mm 


H  H  HI 


OWHttlBRARY 
HISTORY. 


Curiosities  of  History: 


BOSTON 


September  Seventeenth, 


1630 — 1880. 


BY 

WILLIAM   W.    WHEILDON. 

Wife 


second  edition: 


Ringing  clearly  with  a  will 
What  she  was  is  Boston  still. 


J** 

Wn 


BOSTON :  MP/jjEV 

LEE    AND    SHEPARD,    PUBLISHERS. 

NEW   YORK: 

CHARLES  T.  DILLINGHAM. 

1880. 

BOSTOK  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS, 


53941 


Copyright,  1880, 
By   WILLIAM   W.   WHEILDON. 


Author's  Address: 
Box  229,  Concord,  Mass. 


Franklin  Press: 

Rand,  Avery,  &*  Company, 

Iij  Franklin  Street, 

Boston. 


AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED 
TO    MY    WIFE, 

JULIET    REBECCA  WHEILDON, 

INT    COMMEMORATION    OF   THE 

Jfiftg-first  grar  of  our  Parrieb  *g\ht 

MAY  28,   1SS0. 

WILLIAM   W.   WHEILDON. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/curiositiesofhisOOOwhei 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  seems  proper  to  say  in  offering  this  little  volume 
to  the  public,  that  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  ex- 
haust the  subjects  of  which  the  papers  respectively 
treat  ;  but,  rather  to  enlarge  upon  matters  of  historical 
interest  to  Boston,  which  have  been  referred  to  only  in 
a  general  way  by  historians  and  previous  writers. — ■ 
This  idea  rather  than  any  determination  to  select  mere- 
ly curious  topics,  has  in  a  large  measure  influenced  the 
writer ;  and  the  endeavor  has  been  to  treat  them  freely 
and  fairly,  and  present  what  may  be  new,  or  compara- 
tively new,  concerning  them,  from  such  sources  as  are 
now  accessible  and  have  been  open  to  the  writer.  It  is 
not,  however,  intended  to  say  that  an  impulse  towards 
some  curious  matters  of  history  has  not  been  indulged, 
and,  indeed,  considering  the  subjects  and  materials 
which  presented  themselves,  could  scarcely  have  been 
avoided,  which  was  by  no  means  desirable.  Although 
it  has  been  impertinently  said,  that  "  the  most  curious 


VI.  INTRODUCTION. 

thing  to  be  found  is  a  woman  not  curious,"  we  submit 
that  curiosity  is  a  quality  not  to  be  disparaged  by  wit 
or  sarcasm,  but  is  rather  the  germ  and  quality  of  pro- 
gress in  art  and  science  and  history. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  correct  or  qualify,  or  per- 
haps we  might  say  avoid,  all  the  errors,  mistakes,  or 
contradictions,  which  have  been  encountered  in  prepar- 
ing these  pages  ;  and  very  possibly  we  may  have  inad- 
vertently added  to  the  number.  At  all  events,  with 
our  best  endeavors  against  being  drawn  into  or  multiply- 
ing errors,  we  lay  no  claim  to  invulnerability  in  the  mat- 
ter of  accuracy,  or  immaculacy  in  the  way  of  opinions  ; 
and  we  very  sincerely  add,  if  errors  or  mistakes  have 
been  made  and  are  found,  we  shall  be  glad  to  be  ap- 
prised of  them.  There  are  errors  in  our  history  which 
it  is  scarcely  worth  the  while  to  attempt  to  correct,  al- 
though they  are  not  to  be  countenanced  and  should  not 
be  repeated. 

A  period  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  the 
settlement  of  the  town  includes  and  covers  a  history  of 
no  ordinary  character,  involving  progress  and  develop- 
ment, not  merely  of  customs,  manners  and  opinions, 
but  of  principles,  passions  and  government.  The  city 
is  a  creation,  as  it  were,  by  the  art  and  industry  of 
man ;  and,  with  the  reverence  of  Cotton  Mather  him- 
self, we  add,    "With  the  help  of  God  !"  and  we  ven- 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll. 

• 

ture  the  comparison  that  no  change  or  growth,  im- 
provement or  embellishment,  is  to  be  found  in  the  set- 
tlement or  the  city,  that  may  not  be  paralleled  in  the 
growth,  advancement  and  elevation  of  its  people  :  in- 
deed, we  go  even  farther  than  this,  the  material  pro- 
gress to  be  seen  around  us,  in  all  its  multifarious  forms 
and  combinations,  item  by  item,  small  or  great,  is  in- 
dicative only  of  the  advancement  of  the  people,  and 
marks  the  progress  of  moral,  mental  and  intellectual 
power  —  of  art,  science  and  knowledge. 

We  take  this  opportunity  to  acknowledge  our  indebt- 
edness to  several  friends  for  the  loan  and  use  of  many 
rare  and  valuable  works  in  the  preparation  of  this  his- 
tory, and  in  particular  to  Messrs.  John  A.  Lewis  and 
John  L.  DeWolf,  of  Boston,  and  Mr.  J.  Ward  Dean, 
of  the  N.  E.  His.  Gen.  Society. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


I.  Topography  of  Boston.  13 

The  Peninsula.  The  Mill  Creek. 

Two  Islands.  Great  South  Cove. 

Anne  Pollard.  The  North  Cove. 

Curious  Descriptions.  Boston  Common.   , 

II.  The  Public  Ferries.  27 

The  Great  Ferry.  Wampompeague. 

Order  of  Court,  Nov.  1630.  Judge  Sewall  over  the  Ice. 

Lease  to  Edward  Converse.  Charlestown  mother  of  Boston. 

Ferry   to   Winnisimmet  ;  Andros  Revolution  and  Fires. 

Grant  to  Harvard  College.  Portsmouth  Stage. 

Bad  "peag,"  money.  Paul  Revere  crossing. 

III.  The  Boston  Cornfields.  37 

Spragues  at  Charlestown :  Fencing  the  Fields,  &c. 

Dividing  the  Land  ;  The  Cornfields  and  Pastares  ; 

Corn  from  the  Indians  ;  The  Granary. 

IV.   Puritan  Government.  45 

Authority  of  the  Company.  Set  in  his  own  Stocks. 

Ex  post  facto  Laws.  Regulating  the  Dress  of  Women 

Punished  for  a  pun.  The  "Body  of  Liberties." 

Fines  and  Ear-cropping.  Ward  on  Kissing  Women. 

W  hipping  through  three  towns  John  Dunton  on  the  Laws. 

Y.    Narragansett  Indians.  57 

Murder  of  Mr.  Oldham.  Coining  money. 

Visit  of  Miantonomo   to  Gov.         Marriage  of  Children. 

Vane,  Treaty,  &c.  Egyptian  Custom. 

Narragansett  Art.  Marriage  of  Cleopatra. 

VI.    Names  of  Places,  Streets,  &c.  62 

Curious  Indian  Names  ;  Royal  Names,  Names  of  Patriots, 
Names  of  Streets,  Taverns,  &c  ;  Puritans  and  Union  Names  ; 

Paddy  Alley  and  William  Paddy;  Names  of  Taverns  and  Shops ; 

Dates  of  the  Streets  and  Lanes  ;  Number  of  Streets  and  Wharves. 


X.  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

VII.  Persecution  of  the   Quakers.  74 

Church  Government  and  Civil  Order  from  the  King,  1661. 

Government.  Hutchinson's   Opinion. 

Interference  of  the  King.  Triumph  of  the  Quakers. 

Arrival  of  Quakers,  1656.  Their  Meeting  House. 

Execution  of  Quakers.  Meetings  discontinued. 

VIII.    First  Newspaper  in  America.  87 

First  ever  issued — in  writing.  To  cure  the  'Spirit  of  Lying.' 

Gazette  in  Venice,  1583.  The  Christian  Indians. 

English  Mercury,  1588.  Massacre  of  French  Indians. 

"  Publick  Occurrences"  1690.  General    character  of  the  pa- 
Legislative  Interference.  per  and  its  reading  matter. 

IX.  Curious  Boston  Lectures.  98 

History  of  Boston  ;  Hope  in    God  ; 

"Boston's  Ebenezer  ;"  Appeal  to  the  Public  Officers; 

A  Stone  of  Help  ;  Household   Religion  ; 

Widows  and  Orphans  ;  Fanaticism  and  Declamation. 

X.  Remarkable  Proclamations,    1774-5.       104 

March  29,  War  against  France  ;      1745,  March  25,  For  a  Fast  Day; 
October  18,  On  account  of  a  Riot  ;     "     July  8,  Thanksgiving  Lay  ; 
October  19,  War  ag.xinst  Indians  ;      "     Sept.  6,  For  a  Fast  Day  ; 
October  20,  Thanksgiving  Day  ;         "     November  22,  Sailor's  Riot; 
JVov.  2,  Rewards  for  Indian  scalps;     t:     November  25,  Thanksgiving, 

XI.  Popular  Puritan  Literature.  115 

An  Earthquake  in  Boston  ;  Popish  Invasion  of  England  ; 

Deborah  ;  a  Bee  ;  The  Scotch  Rebellion. 

XII.    Revolutionary  Proclamations.  126 

Gen.  Gage  s  Administration  ;  Against  non-importation  league. 

Shutting  up  of  Boston  Harbor  ;  Remarkable  Proclamation  for  the 
Election  of  delegates  to  Congress;  promotion  of  Piety  and  Virtue. 
General  Gage  s  Proclamation  ;         Its  Character  and  Observance- 

XIII.  Curiosities  of  the  Market.  131 

Supplies  of  Gov.  Winthrop;  Hunting,  Game,  Fish,  &c.  ; 

Bartering  for  Furs  ;  Living  in  the  Olden  Time  ; 

Scarcity  of  Provisions;  Supplies  for  a  British  fleet. 

CONCLUSION. 


11 


TOPOGRAPHY    OF    BOSTON 


THE   ORIGINAL   PENINSULA. 

There  is  a  line  of  Cowper  to  the  effect  that  "  God 
made  the  country,  and  man  made  the  town ; "  and 
there  is  probably  no  more  striking  evidence  of  the 
truthfulness  of  the  axiom  than  is  to  be  found  in  the 
history  and  growth  of  Boston,  between  the  years 
1630  and  1880,  confirming  in  a  remarkable  manner 
Capt.  Wood's  prophecy  concerning  the  town,  in 
1650:  viz.,  "whose  continuall  inlargement  presages 
some  sumptuous  city."  The  original  territory  which 
has  formed  the  basis,  so  to  speak,  of  Boston  proper, 
was  a  peninsula,  and  appeared  like  two  islands,  or,  by 
the  continued  operation  of  the  sea,  was  likely  to 
become  so.  Its  distinguishing  feature  was  to  be 
found  in  its  three  prominent  hills,  or,  perhaps,  its  two 
hills  and  its  three-peaked  mountain.  These  were  her 
jewels :  they  have  since  represented  her  fame,  her 
history,  her  sentiments ;  for  these  were  all  wrapped 
around  them.  The  peninsula  was  a  point  of  land 
projected  into  the  harbor,  with  a  narrow  neck  con- 
necting it  with  the  mainland,  and  another  narrow 

13 


14  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

place  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  Dock  Square, 
which  was  once  quite  open  to  the  harbor.  In  length 
from  the  south  line  at  Roxbury,  it  was  something  less 
than  three  miles  (two  and  three-fourths  and  two 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  yards).  Its  width  at  the 
widest  point,  between  Wheelwright's  wharf  (after- 
wards Howe's,  and  now  Foster's)  to  Barton's  Point, 
Leverett  Street,  was  something  over  one  mile,  and 
its  circumference  about  four  miles. 

CURIOUS   EARLY  DESCRIPTIONS. 

The  first  impression  of  the  "island"  which  has 
been  recorded  is  that  of  Anne  Pollard,  who  died  in 
Boston,  Dec.  6,  1725,  at  the  age  of  105  years,  and  left 
over  one  hundred  descendants.  She  always  said  that 
she  came  over  from  Charlestown,  in  1630,  in  the  first 
boat  that  crossed  with  Gov.  Winthrop's  party,  and, 
being  what  might  now  be  called  a  romping  girl  for 
those  times,  ten  years  of  age,  was  "the  first  to  jump 
ashore  ;  "  and  she  afterwards  described  the  place  "as 
being  at  that  time  very  uneven,  abounding  in  small 
hollows  and  swamp,  and  covered  with  blueberry  and 
other  bushes."  We  do  not  think  there  is  any  one 
inclined  to  dispute  this  statement,  or  question  its 
truthfulness. 

There  are  several  descriptions  of  early  Boston, 
topographical  and  otherwise,  which  have  been  quoted 
by  subsequent  writers  upon  the  subject,  rather  as 
curious  and  original  than  as  having  any  particular 
merit  in  themselves.  First  among  these  is  that  of 
Capt.  Edward  Johnson,  in  his  "  Wonder-Working 
Providence  of  Sion's  Saviour  in  New  England,"  writ- 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF    BOSTON.  15 

ten  about  1640.  He  describes  it  as  surrounded  by  the 
brinish  flood,  "  saving  one  small  Tstmos  which  gives 
free  access  to  the  neighbor  townes,"  and  says,  "  At 
their  first  landing  the  hideous  thickets  in  this  place 
were  such  that  wolfes  and  beares  nurst  up  their 
young  from  the  eyes  of  all  beholders.  .  .  .  The  forme 
of  this  Towne  is  like  a  hearte,  naturally  situated  for 
fortifications,  having  two  hills  on  the  frontice  part 
thereof  next  the  sea."  These  were  Fort  and  Mill 
(Copps')  Hills.  u  Betwixt  these  two  strong  armes 
lies  a  large  cove  or  bay,  on  which  the  chiefest  part  of 
the  town  is  built,  overtopped  with  a  third  hill "  (Sen- 
try or  Beacon  Hill).  There  were  two  smaller  hills 
on  the  Common,  on  one  of  which  Gen.  Gage  after- 
wards built  a  battery,  when  the  town  was  in  his  mili- 
tary possession,  and  on  the  other  a  powder-house. 

Another  curious  description  of  Boston  is  given  in 
Wood's  "New  England's  Prospect:  "  — 

"  Boston  is  two  miles  North-east  from  Roxberry.  His  situa- 
tion is  very  pleasant,  being  a  Peninsula  hemm'd  in  on  the 
south  side  with  the  Bay  of  Roxberry,  and  on  the  north  side  with 
Charles  River,  the  marshes  on  the  back  side  being  not  half  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  over  ;  so  that  a  little  fencing  will  secure  their 
cattle  from  the  woolves.  It  being  a  Necke  and  bare  of  wood, 
they  are  not  troubled  with  those  great  annoyances,  wolves,  rat- 
tlesnakes and  musquetoes.  .  .  .  This  Necke  of  Land  is  not 
above  four  miles  in  compasse,  in  forme  almost  square,  having 
on  the  south  side  at  one  corner  a  great  broad  hill,  whereon  is 
planted  a  Fort,  which  can  command  any  ship  as  shee  sayles  into 
any  Harbour  within  the  still  Bay.  On  the  north  side  is  another 
Hill  equall  in  bignesse,  whereon  stands  a  winde  mill.  To  the 
north-west  is  a  high  Mountaine,  with  three  little  rising  Hills  on 
the  top  of  it,  wherfore  it  is  called  Tramount.  .  .  .  This  town 
although  it  be  neither  the  greatest,  nor  the  richest,  yet  is  the 


16  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

most  noted  and  frequented,  being  the  Center  of  the  Planta- 
tions, where  the  monthly  Courts  are  kept.  Here  likewise  dwells 
the  Governor.  This  place  hath  very  good  land,  affording  rich 
Corne-fields,  and  fruitful  gardens,  having  likewise  sweete  and 
pleasant  springs." 

There  were  two  large  coves  projecting  into  the  pe- 
ninsula, —  one  from  the  harbor  and  one  from  Charles 
River,  nearly  opposite  to  each  other,  and  producing 
the  narrow  portion  of  the  land  already  spoken  of,  so 
that  if  the  peninsula  was  not  formed  of  two  islands 
originally,  as  has  been  supposed,  the  cutting  of  a 
creek  across  this  narrow  portion,  nearly  on  the  line 
of  Blackstone  Street,  and  uniting  the  waters  of  the 
two  coves,  had  the  effect  practically  to  make  it  so, 
at  least  at  such  times  as  the  waters  of  Charles  River 
and  the  harbor  met  across  the  neck,  near  Roxbury ; 
so  that  the  peninsula  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
been  heart-shaped,  much  less  square. 

But  the  most  curious  description  of  Boston,  though 
it  may  hardly  be  called  such,  is  that  given  by  Edward 
Ward  —  a  low,  but  ingenious  and  scandalous  author, 
whose  book  cannot  enter  a  decent  presence  —  in  his 
"  Trip  to  New  England.'1 1  He  says  of  "  Boston  and 
the  Inhabitants,"  — 

"On  the  south-west  side  of  Massachusetts  Bay  is  Boston, 
whose  name  is  taken  from  the  Town  in  Lincolnshire,  and  is  the 
Metropolis  of  all  New  England.  The  houses,  in  some  parts, 
join  as  in  London.  The  buildings,  like  their  women,  being  neat 
and  handsome.  And  their  streets,  like  the  hearts  of  the  male 
inhabitants,  are  paved  with  pebble. 

1  The  Second  Volume  of  the  Writings  of  the  Author  of  the  Lon- 
don Spy.    London:  1706. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   BOSTON.  17 

"  In  the  chief  or  High  Street  there  are  stately  edifices,  some 
of  which  have  cost  the  owners  two  or  three  thousand  pounds  the 
raising,  which  I  think  plainly  proves  two  old  adages  true,  viz., 
That  a  fool  and  his  money  is  soon  parted  ;  and,  Set  a  beggar  on 
horseback  he'll  ride  to  the  devil  ;  for  the  fathers  of  these  men 
were  tinkers  and  pedlars. 

"  To  the  glory  of  religion,  and  the  credit  of  the  town,  there 
are  four  churches,  built  with  clapboards  and  shingles,  after  the 
fashion  of  our  meeting  houses  ;  which  are  supply 'd  by  four  min- 
isters,  to  whom  some,  very  justly,  have  applied  these  epithets, 
one  a  scholar,  the  second  a  gentleman,  the  third  a  dunce,  and 
the  fourth  a  clown." 

These  extracts  afford  no  idea  of  the  scandalous 
character  of  the  hook,  nor  do  even  sentences  like 
these :  "  The  women,  like  the  men,  are  excessive 
smokers."  "  They  smoke  in  bed,  smoke  as  they 
knead  their  bread,  smoke  whilst  they  are  cooking 
their  victuals,  smoke  at  prayers,"  &c.  "  Eating, 
drinking,  smoking,  and  sleeping  take  up  four  parts 
in  five  of  their  time,"  &c.  "  Rum,  alias  kill-devil,  is 
as  much  tidor'd  by  the  American  English,  as  a  dram 
of  brandy  is  by  an  old  billingsgate,"  &c.  We  can 
give  our  readers  no  further  idea  of  the  gross  and 
indecent  character  of  the  whole  volume,  without 
offending  in  the  way  the  author  has  done. 

THE    SOUTH   COVE. 

The  South  Cove  extended  from  what  is  now  Bat- 
terymarch  Street  to  near  the  North  Battery,  at  the 
foot  of  Fleet  Street,  curving  inward  as  far  as  Kilby 
Street  and  near  the  old  State  House,  with  creeks 
extending  towards  Spring  Lane,  Milk  and  Federal 
Streets.     Dearborn  says,  "Winthrop's  Marsh,  after- 


18  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

wards  called  Oliver's  Dock,  was  near  Kilby  Street, 
and  between  the  corner  and  Milk  Street,  a  creek  ran 
up  to  Spring  Lane."  An  aged  citizen  once  said  he 
remembered  hearing  Dr.  Chauncy  say  that  he  had 
taken  smelts  in  Milk  Street ;  and  a  Mr.  Marshall 
remembered  that  when  a  boy  they  were  caught  in 
Federal  Street,  near  the  meeting-house,  (Dr.  Chan- 
ning's).  Another  aged  inhabitant  is  reported  to 
have  said,  that,  in  the  great  storm  of  1723,  "  we  could 
sail  in  boats  from  the  South  Battery  to  the  rise  of 
ground  in  King  Street,"  near  the  old  State  House. 
Dock  Square  was  at  the  head  of  a  small  cove,  the 
tide  rising  nearly  to  the  pump,  which  was  formerly 
there,  at  the  foot  of  Cornhill.  The  statue  of  Sam 
Adams,  recently  erected,  is  directly  over  the  well  in 
which  the  pump  stood. 

A  narrow  point  or  tongue  of  land  projected  into 
the  cove  between  the  Town  Dock  (then  near  Fan- 
euil  Hall)  and  Mill  Creek,  and  upon  this  land  stood 
the  celebrated  triangular  warehouse,  —  a  remarkable 
building  for  the  time.  It  stood  opposite  the  Swing 
Bridge,  and  a  little  north  of  the  dock,  measuring 
forty-one  feet  on  Roebuck  Passage  (named  after  the 
tavern  near  it),  and  fifty  feet  on  the  back  side.  Near 
this  place,  in  the  small  square  formed  by  the  junction 
of  Ann,  Union,  and  Elm  Streets,  was  the  Flat  Con- 
duit, so  called.  Ann  Street  was  originally  Conduit 
Street  as  far  as  Cross  Street ;  and  Union  Street,  in 
1732,  lead  from  the  conduit  to  the  Mill  Pond. 

Around  the  South  Cove,  as  has  been  said,  in  the 
early  time  the  chiefest  part  of  the  town  was  built ; 
and  from  thence  it  gradually  expanded  along  the  shore 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF    BOSTON.  19 

to  the  south  and  to  the  west.  John  Josselyn,  in  1638, 
visited  Boston,  and  wrote  a  volume  entitled  "  New 
England  Rarities,"  in  which  he  says,  "  It  was  then 
rather  a  village  than  a  town,  there  being  not  above 
twenty  or  thirty  houses." 

THE   NORTH   COVE. 

The  Cove  on  the  north  side  of  the  peninsula, 
Charles  River,  commenced  near  the  Charlestown 
Ferry,  curving  inwardly  nearly  to  Prince  Street, 
Baldwin  Place,  Haymarket  Square,  nearly  on  the 
line  of  Leverett  Street,  to  Barton's  Point,  where  the 
almshouse  formerly  stood.  ■  "  The  Mill  Pond,"  as  it 
was  afterwards  called,  says  Shurtleff,  "  was  bounded 
by  portions  of  Prince  and  Endicott  Streets  on  the 
east,  and  Leverett  Street,  Tucker's  pasture,  and  Bowl- 
ing Green  on  the  west ;  and  on  the  south  it  covered 
the  whole  space  of  Haymarket  Square.  Most  of  the 
estates  on  what  is  now  Salem  Street,  .  .  .  and  on 
the  west  on  Hawkins  Street  and  Green  Street,  ex- 
tended to  the  Mill  Pond  Cove."  The  margin  of  the 
cove,  it  is  said  by  another,  "passed  across  Union, 
Friend,  and  Portland  Streets,  to  the  bottom  of  Haw- 
kins Street ;  thence  westerly,  across  Pitts  and  Gouch 
Streets,  to  Leverett  Street,  which  at  one  time  was 
called  Mill  Alley.  The  descent  of  the  land  here  was 
very  steep.  A  street  was  laid  out  on  the  line  of  Tem- 
ple Street  [Staniford]  from  Leverett  Street  to  Bea- 
con Hill,  where  steps  led  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  a 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  feet  above  the  sea." 


20  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

THE   MILL   CREEK. 

The  Creek,  or  the  Mill  Creek,  as  it  was  afterwards 
called,  was  undoubtedly  prior  to  the  formation  of  the 
Mill  Pond  ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  was  ever  included 
in  it,  although  Shaw  conveys  the  idea  that  the  North 
Cove  was  simply  a  piece  of  salt  marsh,  and  that  the 
creek  was  used  for  the  purpose  of  covering  it  with 
water  at  flood-tide,  and  thus  forming  a  mill-pond.  As 
early  as  the  5th  of  July,  1631,  an  order  was  passed  by 
the  Court  of  Assistants,  "that  £30  be  levied  on  the 
several  plantations  for  clearing  a  creek,  and  opening 
a  passage  to  the  new  town,*'  —  the  town  at  this  time 
being  the  settlement  around  the  South  Cove  :  so  that 
the  "  clearing  of  a  creek  "  was  "  a  work  of  industry  " 
on  a  small  scale  for  such  an  enterprise.  It  was  made 
across  the  narrow  neck  of  land  between  the  two  sreat 
coves,  and  while  it  united  the  waters  of  Charles  River 
with  the  harbor,  divided  the  peninsula  into  two  islands 
or  sections.  The  creek,  whatever  its  relations  may 
have  been  to  the  Mill  Pond  in  the  later  years  of  its 
existence,  was  used  b}^  the  boats  coming  from  the 
Middlesex  Canal,  which  terminated  at  Cbarlestown 
Neck,  and  furnished  to  them  a  shorter  way  to  the 
harbor  with  their  freights  of  wood,  lumber,  &c.  A 
few  extracts  from  the  town  records  will  afford  some 
further  insight  into  the  character  and  uses  of  the 
creek. 

In  1648,  in  describing  the  property  of  Thomas 
Marshall,  who  owned  some  land  near  the  Water  Mill, 
Mill  Creek,  it  is  stated,  "  with  liberty  of  egress  and. 
regress  in  said  creek  with  boats,  lighters,  and  other 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   BOSTON.  21 

and  it  is  added,  "  Thomas  Marshall  shall 
not  build  any  nearer  the  creek  than  the  now  dwell- 
ing-house of  said  Milom,  and  that  he  shall  not  hin- 
der the  mills  going  by  any  vessel  in  the  creek." 

1656,  Aug.  25. — Butchers  may  throw  their  "  garbidge  " 
into  the  Mill  Creek  over  the  drawbridge,  and  in  no  other 
place.     [The  drawbridge  was  in  Ann  Street.] 

1659,  Oct.  20.  — As  the  people  were  returning  from  the  ex- 
ecution of  Robinson  and  Stevenson  [Quakers],  the  draw  of  the 
drawbridge  fell  upon  a  crowd  of  them,  mortally  wounding  a 
woman,  and  severely  hurting  several  others. 

1691,  August.  — Afire  broke  out  on  Saturday  evening,  "  con- 
suming about  fourteen  houses,  besides  warehouses  and  brue 
houses  from  the  Mill  Bridgh  down  half  way  to  the  Draw 
Bridgh." 

1698,  Nov.  6.  —  Mr.  James  Russell  of  Charlestown  and  Mr. 
John  Ballentine  of  Boston,  or  "  whoever  else  may  be  concerned, 
or  owners  of  the  bridge  over  the  Mill  Creek,  are  ordered  forth- 
with to  repair  the  pavement  on  each  side  of  the  bridge,  and  to 
move  the  gutters  beside  it,  that  it  might  be  passable  for  horse 
and  cart,  according  to  the  grant  of  the  Town,  or  pay  20s.  a 
week  till  it  should  be  done." 

1712,  March.  10.  —  Ordered  to  make  the  draw-bridge  (so 
called)  in  Ann  Street  a  fast,  firm  bridge  the  width  of  the  street. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  inquire  if  any  damage  be  sus- 
tained by  anybody  in  making  the  bridge  in  question  a  "fast 


bridge. 


THE   MILL   POND. 


The  Mill  Pond  was  formed  by  the  building  of  a 
causeway  across  the  head  of  the  cove,  as  the  street 
now  runs,  where  there  was,  it  would  seem,  a  sort  of 
Indian  causeway,  or  pathway,  at  some  prior  time. 
It  is  represented  by  writers  on  the  subject  to  have 
been  built  from  Leverett  Street  to  the  Charlestown 


22  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 

Ferry ;  but  as  this  would  include  the  creek,  built 
some  ten  or  twelve  years  before,  this  seems  to  be  im- 
possible ;  for  if  the  creek  was  connected  with  the 
pond,  without  a  gate  to  shut  it  off,  there  could  be  no 
mill-power.  The  creek,  therefore,  must  have  been 
separated  from  the  pond  by  a  gate,  while  there  was  a 
gate  from  the  pond  into  Charles  River. 

However,  the  causeway  was  built,  and  the  mill- 
pond  and  the  water-power  it  furnished,  used  for 
more  than  a  hundred  3'ears  without  any  special  pub- 
licity or  inquiry  concerning  them.  In  fact,  it  would 
seem  as  if  the  subject,  and  the  large  piece  of  territory 
involved,  had  been  pretty  much  forgotten  ;  so  that 
in  1765,  in  March,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  in- 
quire "  by  what  terms  the  mill-owners  held  the  mill- 
pond  mills."  In  May  following,  this  committee  re- 
ported, that  on  the  31st  of  July,  1643,  there  was 
granted  to  Henry  Simons,  George  Burden,  John  Hill, 
and  their  partners,  all  the  cove  on  the  north-west 
side  of  the  causeway  leading  towards  Charlestown, 
with  all  the  salt  marsh  bordering  thereupon,  not  for- 
merly granted,  on  these  conditions :  that  within 
three  years  they  erect'  thereon  one  or  more  corn-mills, 
"and  maintain  the  same  forever;  also  make  a  gate 
ten  feet  wide  to  open  with  the  flood  for  the  passage 
of  boats  into  the  cove,"  &c.  This  gate  was  also  to 
be  "maintained  forever." 

The  Mill  Pond,  it  is  said,  included  about  fifty 
acres,  —  nearly  as  large  as  the  north  end  island, — 
and,  of  course,  must  have  furnished  during  the  time 
it  was  available  —  from  an  hour  or  two  after  full  tide, 
until  an  hour  or  two  before  the  next  tide,  night  and 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   BOSTON.  23 

day  —  a  very  large  and  extensive  water-power,  and 
was,  no  doubt,  though  probably  not  half  used,  a  very 
valuable  property. 

It  is  stated  by  Drake,  as  if  it  were  a  consequence 
of  the  action  of  the  committee,  that,  "four  years  after 
the  above  report,  a  committee  took  possession  of  the 
premises,  as  having  reverted  to  the  town."  These 
proceedings,  it  will  be  noticed,  all  refer  to  the  "  mill- 
pond  mills,"  but  may  be  presumed  to  include  the 
pond  and  the  whole  grant  made  in  1643 ;  so  that  in 
1769  the  property  was  in  the  hands  of  the  town,  as 
appears  from  these  statements. 

After  this  time,  by  some  means  or  other,  the  Mill 
Pond  Company,  or  Corporation,  came  into  possession 
of  the  property,  as  Shaw  says,  "  for  the  consideration 
of  five  dollars ; "  and  in  1807,  the  town  became  a 
partner  in  the  matter  of  filling  it  up,  the  town  to 
have  the  streets,  we  presume,  and  one-eighth  of  the 
lots  filled  within  twenty  years.  Permission  was  also 
given  to  use  the  gravel  of  Beacon  Hill  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  filling  was  completed  more  than  fifty 
years  ago,  and  the  entire  space  has  long  been  covered 
with  buildings,  and  in  1832  included  a  theatre.  The 
Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  Station  stands  over  the 
creek ;  and  the  large  depot  buildings  of  the  Fitch- 
burg,  Eastern,  and  Lowell  Railroads  are  all  on  land 
taken  from  the  river  outside  the  ancient  causeway : 
so  that  no  one  of  the  great  railroad  depots  in  the  city 
stands  upon  the  original  land  of  the  town. 


24  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thus  we  have  seen  what  were  the  features  and 
topographical  characteristics  of  the  original  peninsula 
which  forms  the  groundwork,  as  it  were,  of  the  city 
proper  of  to-day.  In  the  steady  march  of  progress 
and  improvements  which  have  marked  its  growth  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  such  changes  and  en- 
largements have  been  made,  that  neither  its  early 
outlines  or  its  original  shape  are  any  where  to  be 
observed.  The  great  coves  on  either  side  of  the 
town  have  disappeared ;  and  the  renowned  Tri-moun- 
tain,  around  which  so  much  of  history  gathered,  and 
so  much  of  puritanism  and  patriotism  were  enshrined, 
is  shorn  of  its  ancient  prestige,  although  still,  as  it 
were,  the  summit  of  State  authority  ;  and  of  "  Come 
Hill,"  whereon  the  settlers  of  Boston,  Charlestown, 
Roxbury,  and  Dorchester,'  in  1632,  built  the  first  fort 
for  the  defence  of  the  settlement,  not  a  vestige  now 
remains. 

Yet,  broad  and  extensive  as  these  improvements 
and  enlargements  of  the  original  peninsula  have  been, 
they  are  at  least  equalled,  if  not  exceeded,  by  what 
has  been  accomplished  in  other  parts  of  the  town ; 
so  that  Boston  proper  —  at  first  two  islands,  or  nearly 
so,  and  afterwards  a  peninsula  —  has  long  ceased  to  be 
either  the  one  or  the  other,  and  must  now  be  regard- 
ed as  a  portion  of  the  mainland.  And  this,  too, 
while  Charles  River,  by  encroachments  upon  its  bed 
on  both  sides,  the  numerous  wharves  projecting  into 
it,  and  the  bridges,  railroads,  and  other  structures 
resting  upon  its  bottom,  has  been  reduced  in  its  pro- 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   BOSTON.  25 

portions  to  one-third  of  its  original  size,  and,  in  fact, 
has  almost  ceased  to  be  a  river  in  the  proper  sense  of 
that  term.  So  also  on  the  south  side  of  the  town : 
Four  Point  Channel,  which  reached  to  Dover-street 
bridge,  is  now  a  narrow  stream  ;  and  the  South 
Bay,  which  lay  between  Roxbury  and  South  Boston, 
has  been  greatly  reduced  in  its  proportions,  and  is 
crossed  by  the  New  England  Railroad.  So  that  it 
may  be  said,  the  city  proper  to-day  stands  consoli- 
dated on  one  side  of  the  ancient  neck  with  Roxbury 
and  Dorchester,  and  on  the  other  with  Roxbury  and 
Brookline.  There  still  remain,  however,  a  section  of 
Charles  River,  forming  a  bay  of  itself,  between  Bos- 
ton, Cambridge,  and  Brookline,  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  South  Bay  between  Roxbury  and  South 
Boston.  Brookline  —  originally  Muddy  Brook  — 
was  formerly  considered  as  belonging  to  Boston,  and 
its  lands  were  apportioned  among  the  early  settlers  of 
the  town  for  agricultural  purposes  and  the  keeping  of 
cattle.  It  is  now  nearly  surrounded  by  the  enlarged 
city,  Brighton  and  Roxbury  both  belonging  to  Bos- 
ton. 

There  is,  however,  one  feature  of  Boston  which 
may  be  said  to  remain  intact,  and  that  is  Boston 
Common.  When  the  settlers  bought  the  peninsula  of 
William  Blackstone,  or  all  his  interest  in  it,  excepting 
six  acres,  which  he  reserved  for  his  own  occupation, 
"  the  town  laid  out  a  place  for  a  training-field,  which 
ever  since  and  now  is  used  for  that  purpose,  and  for 
the  feeding  of  cattle."  This  was  undoubtedly  the 
origin  of  Boston  Common ;  and  the  date  of  the  trans- 
action, as  appears  from  the  town   records,  was  on 


26  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

"the  10th  daye  of  the  9th  month,  1634,"  which,  as 
the  year  commenced  with  March,  would  be  Novem- 
ber, 1634.  It  has  undergone  many  changes,  some 
enlargement  by  filling  up  the  marsh  on  the  river 
side,  and  numerous  improvements  in  its  general 
appearance  by  laying  out  its  malls  and  walks,  setting 
out  trees,  excluding  cattle,  walling  around  Crescent 
Pond  (formerly  Frog  Pond),  introduction  of  the 
Cochituate  water  and  fountains,  and,  last,  by  the 
erection  of  the  Army  and  Navy  Monument  on  its 
highest  elevation,  once  occupied  as  a  fortification 
against  its  rightful  owners  by  Gen.  Gage  and.  Gen. 
Howe. 

Thus  we  have  seen  Boston  as  it  was  in  1630  and 
subsequent  years,  —  originally  one  of  three  prominent 
peninsulas  on  the  coast  of  New  England,  known  by 
the  Indians  as  Shawmut,  Mishawam,  and  Mattapan, 
and  afterwards,  by  the  settlers,  as  Boston,  Charles- 
town,  and  Dorchester  (now  South  Boston).  Each  of 
these  was  connected  with  the  mainland  by  a  narrow 
neck  of  its  own,  and.  now  all  three,  with  the  addition 
of  Roxbury,  West  Roxbury,  Brighton,  and  Noddle's 
Island  (East  Boston),  are  included  in  the  present 
metropolis,  while  Muddy  Brook  (Brookline)  and 
Winnisimmet  (Chelsea),  which  were  originally  at- 
tached to  Boston,  are  not  included  within  her  present 
limits.  The  growtli  and  expansion  of  the  town,  we 
judge,  are  unparalleled,  in  some  respects,  by  any 
other  city  in  the  world,  with  a  character  of  her  own 
and  a  position  in  the  history  of  the  country  of  which 
she  may  well  be  proud. 


n. 
THE   PUBLIC   FERRIES. 


THE   GREAT   FERRY. 

The  first  settlers  of  Charlestown  and  Boston  of 
course  saw  an  immediate  necessity  for  the  establish- 
ment of  ferries  on  both  sides  of  them ;  so  that,  after 
considerable  numbers  had  arrived,  this  became  im- 
perative, especially  that  across  Charles  River,  —  "  the 
great  ferry,"  as  it  was  afterwards  called.  This 
may  be  called  the  first  public  enterprise  undertaken 
by  the  colonists.  There  was,  no  doubt,  from  the  first, 
means  of  crossing  the  river  furnished  by  individuals 
before  any  public  action  had  taken  place,  just  as  was 
done  by  Samuel  Maverick  at  Noddle's  Island,  who 
was  disposed  and  prepared  to  accommodate  every- 
body that  came  along.  Measures  were  taken  for  the 
establishment  of  the  Charlestown  Ferry  soon  after 
the  arrival  of  Gov.  Winthrop's  party  at  Charlestown. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Court  of  Assistants,  holclen  at 
Boston,  Nov.  19, 1630,  —  present  the  governor,  deputy- 
governor,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  Mr.  Ludlowe, 
Capt.  Endicott,  Mr.  Coddington,  Mr.  Pinchon,  and 
Mr.  Bradstreet,  —  "  It  is  further  ordered,  That  who- 
soever shall  first  give  in  his  name  to  Mr.  Governor 
that  he  will  undertake  to  set  up  a  ferry  betwixt  Bos- 
ton and  Charlestown,  and  shall  begin  the  same  at 

27 


28  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

such  time  as  Mr.  Governor  shall  appoint,  shall  have 
Id.  for  every  person  and  Id.  for  every  100  weight  of 
goods  he  shall  transport." 

The  ferry  was  no  doubt  undertaken  at  this  time 
by  Edward  Converse  ;  and,  probably  as  it  did  not 
then  pay  very  well,  in  June  14,  1631,  an  order  was 
passed,  "  That  Edward  Converse,  who  had  under- 
taken to  set  up  a  ferry  between  Boston  and  Charles- 
town,  be  allowed  2d.  for  every  single  person,  and  Id. 
apiece,  if  there  be  two  or  more." 

The  lease  to  Mr.  Converse,  in  1631,  was  renewed 
Nov.  9,  1636,  in  form  as  follows  :  "  The  Governor  and 
treasurer,  by  order  of  the  general  court,  did  demise 
to  Edward  Converse  the  ferry  between  Boston  and 
Charlestown,  to  have  the  sole  transporting  of  pas- 
sengers and  cattle  from  one  side  to  the  other,  for 
three  years  from  the  first  da}^  of  the  next  month,  for 
the  yearly  rent  of  forty  pounds  to  be  paid  quarterly 
to  the  treasurer :  Provided,  that  he  see  it  be  well  at- 
tended and  furnished  with  sufficient  boats ;  and  that 
so  soon  as  may  be  in  the  next  spring  he  set  up  a 
convenient  house  on  Boston  side,  and  keep  a  boat 
there  as  need  shall  require.  And  he  is  allowed  to 
take  his  wonted  fees,  viz.,  2d.  for  a  single  person,  and 
pence  apiece,  if  there  be  more  than  one,  as  well  on 
lecture  days  as  at  other  times ;  and  for  every  horse 
and  cow  with  the  man  which  goeth  with  them  6d., 
and  for  a  goat  Id.,  and  a  swine  2d.  And  if  any  shall 
desire  to  pass  before  it  be  light  in  the  morning,  or 
after  it  is  dark  in  the  evening,  he  may  take  recom- 
pence  answerable  to  the  season  and  his  pains  and 
hazard,  so  as  it  be  not  excessive." 


WINNISIMMET   FERRY.  29 

The  ferry  was  a  great  accommodation,  of  course, 
and  could  not  be  dispensed  with.  Johnson  mentions 
it  quite  early  in  his  u  Wonder- Working  Providence." 
In  speaking  of  Charlestown,  the  "neighbor  of  Bos- 
ton, being  in  the  same  fashion,  with  her  bare 
neck,"  he  says  "there  is  kept  a  ferry-boat  to  convey 
passengers  over  Charles  River,  which,  between  the 
two  towns,  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  over,  being  a  very 
deep  channel."  But  at  times,  no  doubt,  the  ferry 
proved  troublesome  and  annoying.  So  that  in  the 
month  of  October,  1632,  Mr.  Winthrop  records  that 
"about  a  fortnight  before  this,  those  of  Charlestown, 
who  had  formerly  been  joined  to  Boston  congrega- 
tion, now,  in  regard  of  the  difficulty  of  passage  in 
the  winter,  and  having  opportunity  of  a  pastor,  one 
Mr.  [Edward]  James,  who  came  over  at  this  time, 
Avere  dismissed  from  the  congregation  of  Boston." 
This,  it  was  said,  was  after  a  rather  boisterous  sum- 
mer on  the  bay  and  harbor. 

WINNISIMMET    FERRY. 

At  a  General  Court,  holden  at  Boston,  the  18th  of 
May,  1631,  there  were  present  Mr.  Winthrop,  gov- 
ernor ;  Mr.  Dudley,  deputy-governor ;  Mr.  Ludlowe, 
Capt.  Enclicott,  Mr.  Nowell,  Mr.  Pinchon,  Mr.  Brad- 
ford, assistants  (at  which  the  governor  and  lieu- 
tenant-governor were  chosen),  —  "Thomas  Willins 
[Drake  gives  the  name  as  Williams]  hath  undertook 
to  sett  up  a  ferry  between  Winnisimmet  and  Charles- 
town, for  which  he  is  to  have  after  three  pence  a 
person  and  from  Winnisimmet  to  Boston  four  pence 
a  person."     Mr.   Savage,  in  a   note   to  Winthrop's 


30  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

journal,  speaking  of  Samuel  Maverick  at  Noddle's 
Island,  says,  "Winisemet  Ferry,  both  to  Charles- 
town  and  Boston,  was  also  granted  to  him  forever." 
He  certainly  did  conduct  a  ferry  on  one  or  both 
these  routes  for  a  time. 

Jan.  23,  1635.  —  "  Thomas  Marshall  was  chosen  by 
general  consent  for  ye  keeping  of  a  ferry  from  Milne 
Point  [Copps'  Hill]  vnto  Charlestowne,  and  to 
Wynnyseemitt,  and  to  take  for  his  ferrying  vnto 
Charlestowne,  as  ye  fenyman  there  hath,  and  vnto 
Wynnyseemitt  for  a  single  psn  six  pence ;  and  for 
every  one  above  ye  number  of  two,  two  pence 
apiece."  It  is  not  probable  that  this  ferry  was  con- 
tinued for  many  years. 

In  December,  1637,  Edward  Bendall  was  "  to 
keepe  a  sufficient  ferryboate  to  carry  to  Noddle's 
Island  and  to  the  shippes  ryding  before  the  Town : 
taking  for  a  single  person  ijd.  and  for  two  3d." 

GRANT   TO   HARVARD   COLLEGE. 

In  1640,  the  Charlestown  Ferry  was  granted  to 
Harvard  College,  to  the  support  of  which  the  town 
had  been  annually  contributing,  and  had  received 
from  the  ferry  fifty  pounds  for  the  year  previous, 
1639.  This  grant  was  continued,  and,  for  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  bridge  was  built, 
it  was  a  source  of  very  handsome  income  to  the 
institution.  In  1644,  it  appears  by  the  records  of 
the  town,  William  Bridge  was  appointed  to  keep  the 
ferry  in  place  of  Mr.  Converse,  and  "  to  have  a  penny 
a  person  for  each  that  goes  over,  except  they  agree 
with  him  by  the  year,  and  two  pence  a  person  for 


CHARLESTOWN   FERRY.  31 

each  that  goes  over  unseasonably."  When  the  bridge 
was  built  in  1785,  the  gratuity  to  the  college  was 
continued  by  the  terms  of  the  Act  authorizing  it ; 
and  the  sum  of  two  hundred  pounds  per  year  was 
paid  to  it  in  commutation  of  its  claim  to  the  ferry. 

Johnson,  in  his  "  Wonder-Working  Providence," 
describes  Boston  as  surrounded  by  the  brinish  floods, 
and  as  having,  on  the  north-west  and  north-east,  "  two 
constant  Faires,  kept  for  traffique  thereunto."  A 
ferry  to  Cambridge  is  spoken  of  in  1652 ;  and  in  the 
fall  of  that  year  Mr.  Cotton  took  cold  in  crossing  it, 
and  died  soon  after. 

COMPLAINTS    OF   THE   FERRYMEN. 

In  1648,  "the  ferrymen,  Francis  Hudson  and 
James  Heyden,  state  in  a  petition  to  the  General 
Court,  that  the  ferry  never  was  less  productive  :  that 
contrarjr  to  law  disorderly  passengers  would  press 
into  the  boats,  and  on  leaving  refuse  to  pay  their 
fare ;  that  some  pleaded  they  had  nothing  to  pa}% 
and  others  that  they  were  in  the  country's  service. 
And  they  further  state,  that  the  payment  generally 
tendered  was  'usually  in  such  refuse,  unwrought, 
broken,  unstringed  and  unmerchantable  peag' 
(wampum),  at  six  a  penny,  that  they  lost  two  pence 
a  shilling,  being  forced  to  take  peag  at  six  a  penny 
and  pay  it  at  seven.  They  petition  that  if  the  Court 
intend  '  all  soldiers  with  their  horses  and  military 
furniture  be  fare-free,'  that  they  might  be  paid  for 
it  by  the  colony :  that  strangers,  not  able  to  pay, 
may  be  ordered  to  give  in  their  names:  that  the 
'peag  hereafter  to  us  paid  may  be  so  suitably  in 


82  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 

known  parcels  handsomely  stringed,  and  their  value 
assigned,  that  it  may  henceforth  be  a  general,  cur- 
rent and  more  agreeable  pay.' 

At  a  session  of  the  General  Court,  at  Boston,  the 
10th  of  the  eight  month,  1648,  "  For  preventing 
ferry  men's  Damage  by  Persons  not  paying,  &c,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  any  Ferry  man  to  demand  and 
Receive  his  due  before  his  Boat  put  off  from  the 
Shore,  nor  shall  he  be  bound  to  pass  over  any  that 
shall  not  give  satisfaction,  &  any  Ferry  Man  may  re- 
fuse any  wampum  not  stringed  or  Unmerchantable 
and  such  persons  whether  Horse  or  Foot  which  are 
passage  fiee  by  Order  of  the  Court  must  show 
something  sufficient  for  their  Discharge,  or  else  pay 
as  others  do,  except  Magistrates  and  Deputies,  &c, 
who  are  generally  known  to  be  free." 

And  again,  Oct.  18,  the  Court  ordered  that  "  all 
'  payable  peag '  should  be  '  entire  without  breaches, 
both  the  white  and  the  black,  suitably  strung  in 
eight  known  parcels,  Id.,  3d.,  12d.,  5s.,  in  white ; 
and  2d.,  Qd.,  2-6d.,  and  10s.,  in  black.'  The  Court 
also  ordered  that  for  transporting  officers  in  the 
colony  service,  the  ferrymen  should  be  allowed  <£4 
per  annum  for  the  past,  and  £Q  per  annum  for  the 
time  to  come." 

PEAG,    OR   INDIAN   MONEY. 

"  Peag,"  or  '*  wampum,"  or  "wampumpeag,"  simply 
means  stringed  shells  of  a  peculiar  kind,  or  Indian 
money ;  and  this,  it  seems,  came  early  into  use,  as 
Hubbard  says,  "  The  people  of  New  Plymouth,  in  the 
year  1627,  began  trade  with  the  Dutch  at  Manhados, 


PENNY   FERRY.  33 

and  there  they  had  the  first  knowledge  of  Wampum- 
peag,  and  their  acquaintance  therewith  occasioned 
the  Indians  of  those  parts  to  learn  to  make  it." 
Hutchinson  thinks  the  New  England  Indians,  prior 
to  this  time,  had  not  "any  instrument  of  commerce;" 
and  speaks  of  the  Narragansetts  as  coining  money, 
making  pendants  and  bracelets,  and  also  tobacco 
pipes.  There  seems,  however,  to  have  been  among 
the  Massachusetts  settlers  some  other  kinds  of  money 
in  use,  as,  in  1635,  the  court  ordered  that  brass  far- 
things shall  be  discontinued,  and  that  musket-balls 
shall  pass  for  farthings. 

PENNY   FERRY. 

Penny  Ferry,  across  the  Mystic  River,  where  the 
Maiden  Bridge  now  is,  was  established  by  the  town 
in  April,  1640,  when  it  was  voted,  "  That  Philip 
Drinker  should  keep  a  ferry  at  the  Neck  of  Land,  with 
a  sufficient  boat,  and  to  have  2d.  a  single  person,  and 
a  penny  a  piece  when  there  go  any  more."  It  was 
not  a  source  of  any  profit  to  the  town  for  many  years. 

In  1651,  the  Penny  Ferry  was  granted  for  a  year  to 
Philip  Knight,  who  appears  to  have  had  the  income 
of  it  for  taking  care  of  it,  he  agreeing  "  to  attend 
the  ferry  carefully,  and  not  to  neglect  it,  that  there 
be  no  just  complaint." 

In  1698,  Judge  Sewall  makes  the  following  entry 
in  his  diary :  "  February  19,  I  go  over  the  ice  and 
visit  Mr.  Morton,  who  keeps  his  bed.  21st,  I  rode 
over  to  Charlestown  on  the  ice,  then  over  to  S tower's 
(Chelsea),  so  to  Mr.  Wigglesworth.  The  snow  was 
so  deep  that  I  had  a  hard  journey  —  could  go  but  a 


34  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 

foot  pace  on  Mystic  river,  the  snow  was  so  deep. 
26th,  a  considerable  quantity  of  ice  went  away  last 
night,  so  that  now  there  is  a  glade  of  water  along 
Governor's  island,  about  as  far  as  Bird  island.  28th, 
a  guard  is  set  upon  Charles  River  to  prevent  persons 
from  venturing  over  on  the  ice  for  fear  of  drowning ; 
and  the  ferrymen  are  put  upon  cutting  and  clearing 
the  ice,  which  they  do  so  happily,  that  I  think  the 
boat  passeth  once  a  day." 

CHARLESTOWN   FERRY. 

The  use  of  the  ferry  was  confined  to  foot-passen- 
gers entirely  at  first;  and  afterwards,  when  larger 
boats  were  built,  chaises  were  allowed,  as  the  com- 
mon riding  or  travelling  vehicle  of  the  time.  It 
would  seem  that  double  tolls  had  been  demanded  on 
certain  days;  and  in  1783,  when  the  names  of  the 
ferrymen  were  presented  to  the  town  for  approval,  it 
was  agreed,  on  their  not  taking  double  ferriage  on 
those  days,  and  their  faithful  promise  to  the  same,  to 
approbate  them.  It  seems  almost  wonderful  —  but  it 
is  a  fact  —  that  this  ferry  was  kept  up  as  the  sole 
means  of  communication,  excepting  the  journey 
around  through  Roxbury  and  Cambridge,  for  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  It  was  over  this 
ferry  that  the  people  came  to  Boston  to  assist  in  the 
fortification  upon  Come  Hill  (Fort  Hill)  in  May, 
1632,  and  at  other  times  for  similar  purposes.  It  was 
over  this  ferry  also,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1689,  that 
the  troops  came,  in  the  time  of  the  Andros  Rebellion, 
to  assist  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  people  at 
this  early  period  in  the  history  of  the  town.  There 
were  twenty  companies  in  Boston,  and  it  was  said 


CHARLESTOWN   FERRY.  35 

about  fifteen  hundred  men  at  Charlestown  that  could 
not  get  over.  Andros  was  imprisoned,  the  first 
charter  of  the  colony  dissolved,  and  Thomas  Danforth 
came  in  as  deputy-governor.  On  many  other  occa- 
sions during  the  long  period  of  its  continuance,  and 
in  cases  of  fire  in  Boston,  the  ferry  had  large  duties 
to  perform ;  and  it  is  wonderful  how  it  was  ever 
made  to  answer  its  purposes  for  so  long  a  time. 

1741.  —  Oldmixon,  in  his  "History  of  the  British 
Empire  in  America "  ("  The  History  of  New  Eng- 
land," as  a  part  of  it  is  called),  says,  "  Charlestown, 
the  mother  of  Boston,  is  much  more  populous  than 
Cambridge,  and  exceeds  it  much  in  respect  of  trade, 
being  situated  between  two  rivers,  Mystic  River  and 
Charles  River,  and  parted  from  Boston  only  by  the 
latter,  over  which  there  is  a  ferry  so  well  tended  that 
a  bridge  would  not  be  much  more  convenient,  except 
in  winter,  when  the  ice  will  neither  bear  nor  suffer  a 
boat  to  move  through  it.  Though  the  river  is  much 
broader  about  the  town,  it  is  not  wider  in  the  ferry 
passage  than  the  Thames  between  London  and  South- 
wark.  The  profits  of  this  ferry  belong  to  Harvard 
College  in  Cambridge,  and  are  considerable.  The 
town  is  so  large  as  to  take  up  all  the  space  between 
the  two  rivers." 

In  1763,  April,  the  running  of  a  stage-coach  was 
commenced  between  Boston  and  Portsmouth,  N.H., 
once  a  week,  —  out  on  Friday,  and  return  on  Tuesday. 
It  is  said,  that,  "  owing  to  the  trouble  of  ferrying  the 
stage  and  horses  over  Charles  River,  they  were  kept 
at  Charlestown,  at  the  sign  of  the  Three  Cranes." 
The  practice  with  this,  and  very  likely  other  stage- 
lines,  probably  continued  until  the  bridge  was  built. 


3G  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

The  memorable  night,  April  18,  1775,  when  Paul 
Revere  crossed  Charles  River,  near  the  ferry,  is 
of  course  well  remembered.  During  the  occupation 
of  Boston  Harbor  by  the  British  navy,  the  boats  of 
the  ferry  were  drawn  up  alongside  the  men-of-war 
every  night  at  nine  o'clock,  and  there  was  no  passing 
after  that  hour ;  but  it  seems  that  Revere  kept  a 
boat  of  his  own  at  the  north  end,  and  employed  two 
men  to  row  him  across,  "  a  little  to  the  eastward 
where  the  '  Somerset '  man-of-war  lay."  He  landed 
at  Charlestown  below  the  ferry,  and  says,  "I  told 
them  what  was  acting,  and  went  to  get  me  a  horse," 
and  then  pursued  his  momentous  ride  to  Lexington. 

Imagine  the  continuance  of  this  ferry,  as  the  usual 
means  of  crossing  the  river  between  Boston  and 
Charlestown,  for  a  period  of  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  !  and  all  this  time  probably  without  the 
use  of  sails,  as  the  stream  at  this  point  was  very  nar- 
row and  the  currents  very  strong,  and  certainly  with- 
out the  power  of  steam,  now  so  generally  applied  to 
ferries  all  over  the  country.  There  was,  no  doubt,  in 
the  winter  season,  a  good  deal  of  passing  on  the  ice. 
The  Winnisimmet  Ferry,  for  many  years  prior  to  the 
introduction  of  steam,  was  operated  by  the  use  of 
large  sail-boats  for  foot-passengers  only. 

It  is  said  that  the  Indian  name  of  Charles  River 
was  Quimobequin,  and  that  on  Capt.  Smith's  map  of 
1614,  it  is  called  Massachusetts ;  and  Hutchinson 
says,  "  Prince  Charles  gave  the  name  of  Charles 
river  to  what  had  been  before  called  Massachusetts 
river."  Smith  himself  says  he  called  it  Charles 
River ;  still  Hutchinson  may  be  right. 


III. 


THE  BOSTON   COENFIELDS. 


It  will  hardly  be  realized  at  the  present  time  that 
Boston,  or  the  peninsula  which  originally  comprised 
the  town,  was  ever  occupied  by  cornfields,  or,  as  one 
may  almost  say,  as  a  cornfield.  If  there  were  corn- 
fields, as  we  assume  there  were,  the  curious  thing 
about  them  is,  that  we  know  so  little  of  them ;  for  it 
can  scarcely  be  said  that  they  hold  a  place  in  history. 
There  are,  in  fact,  no  definite  statements  about  them  ; 
and  a  mystery  seems  to  hang  over  them  as  to  where 
they  were,  who  owned  them,  who  cultivated  them, 
and  what  was  done  with  the  harvest.  Were  they 
private  property  or  public  property  ?  We  have  not 
been  able  to  find  in  contemporary  or  subsequent  his- 
tory any  account  of  the  Boston  cornfields  that  will 
enable  us  with  certainty  to  answer  this  question. 
The  fair  inference  from  statements  made,  however, 
is,  that  they  were  to  some  extent  both  public  and 
private  property.  Perhaps  the  first  allusion  to  them 
to  be  found  in  any  record  is  that  in  1632,  —  and  there 
could  have  been  no  corn  planted  in  Boston  earlier 
than  1631,  unless  by  Blackstone,  —  and  this  allusion 
is  in  the  name  of  "  Corne  Hill."  In  1632,  May  24, 
"  it  was  agreed  to  build  a  fort  in  that  part  of  Boston 

37 


38  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

called  Corne  Hill,"  meaning  what  thereafter  was 
called  Fort  Hill ;  and  one  historical  writer,  quoting 
the  record,  says  a  fortification  was  begun  on  "  the 
corn  hill ;  "  and  that  was  probably  the  only  Corn 
Hill  at  that  time.  The  question  naturally  arises, 
Why  was  it  called  Corn  Hill  ?  and  the  almost  neces- 
sary answer  to  the  question  is,  Because  it  was  where 
corn  was  grown. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  became  necessary, 
as  early  as  possible,  for  the  settlers  to  seek  means  for 
their  future  subsistence.  The  stock  and  supply  of 
provisions  brought  over  were,  no  doubt,  for  a  time 
and  under  certain  regulations,  a  common  stock  ;  and 
possibly  some  of  Gov.  Winthrop's  party  had  supplies 
of  their  own  in  addition  thereto.  But,  at  all  events, 
prudence  and  self-preservation  required  immediate 
attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  the  raising 
of  corn  and  other  grains. 

In  1628  (1629),  before  the  arrival  of  Gov.  Win- 
throp  and  his  company  at  Charlestown,  the  place  had 
been  occupied  by  the  Spragues,  from  Salem,  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Graves,  an  agent  of  the  com- 
pany; and  one  of  the  first  things  they  did  was  "to 
model  and  lay  out  the  form  of  the  town,  with  streets 
about  the  hill,"  which  was  approved  by  Gov.  Endi- 
cott.  They  next  "jointly agreed  and  concluded  that 
each  inhabitant  have  a  two  acre  lot  to  plant  upon 
and  all  to  fence  in  common."  The  same  year  Mr. 
Graves  wrote  to  England,  "  The  increase  of  corne 
is  here  faire  beyond  expectation,"  showing  that  it 
had  been  grown,  and  most  probably  in  the  common 
cornfield;    for   it   is   afterwards   said    that    Thomas 


THE   BOSTON   CORNFIELDS.  39 

Walford  "  lived  on  the  south  end  of  the  westermost 
hill  of  the  East  Field."  Another  vote  was  passed  the 
next  year,  1630,  —  probably  before  the  arrival  of  Gov. 
Winthrop,  — that  each  person  "  dwelling  within  the 
neck,  shall  have  two  acres  of  land  for  a  house  plot, 
and  two  acres  for  every  male  that  is  able  to  plant." 

In  the  months  of  June  and  July,  1630,  Gov.  Win- 
throp and  his  party  arrived  at  Charlestown,  after  a 
passage  by  some  of  the  ships  of  seventeen  or  eigh- 
teen weeks,  many  of  them  sick  of  the  scurvy.  "  The 
multitude  set  up  cottages,  booths  and  tents  about 
the  Town  Hill ;"  and  it  is  said  "  provisions  were  ex- 
ceedingly wasted,  and  no  supplies  could  now  be 
expected  by  planting  ;  besides,  there  was  miserable 
damage  and  spoil  of  provisions  at  sea."  Many  of  the 
party  died,  —  some  two  hundred  before  December,  — 
and  others  started  out  for  other  locations;  and  finally 
in  September,  1630,  by  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Black- 
stone,  the  larger  part  of  Gov.  Winthrop's  party 
crossed  the  river  to  Boston.  This  year  there  was  a 
scarcity  of  corn,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following 
extract  from  Hutchinson's  history  :  — 

"  In  August,  1724,  John  Quttamug,  a  Nipmng  Indian,  came 
to  Boston,  above  112  years  of  age.  He  affirmed  that  in  1630, 
upon  a  message  that  the  English  were  in  want  of  corn,  soon 
after  their  arrival,  he  went  to  Boston  with  his  father,  and  car- 
ried a  bushel  and  a  half  of  corn  all  the  way  on  his  back ;  that 
there  was  only  one  cellar  began  in  town,  and  that  somewhere 
near  the  Common." 

Wood,  in  speaking  of  Boston  in  1639,  says,  "  This 
place  hath  very  good  land,  affording  rich  cornfields 
and  fruitful  gardens,"  which,  no  doubt,  were  in  exist- 


40  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

ence  years  before  he  wrote  his  book.  In  1635,  it  was 
voted,  "  Each  able  man  is  allowed  two  acres,  and  each 
able  youth  one  acre  to  plant."  Provision  of  some 
sort  on  the  subject  was  no  doubt  made  before  this 
time,  and  gradually  reached  the  regulation  here  re- 
corded. In  1633,  great  scarcity  of  corn  is  mentioned 
by  Winthrop,  as  lie  says,  "  By  reason  of  the  spoil  of 
our  hogs,  there  being  no  acorns,  yet  the  people  lived 
well  with  fish  and  the  fruit  of  their  gardens." 

Almost  as  a  natural  consequence  of  what  has  now 
been  said,  in  March,  1636,  we  find  that  provision  was 
made  "for  having  sufficient  fences  to  the  Cornfielde 
before  the  14th  of  the  next  second  month  (April)  ; 
that  for  every  defective  rod  then  found,  five  shillings 
penalty  ; "  and  it  was  farther  provided,  "  The  field 
toward  Rocksberry  to  be  looked  into  by  Jacob 
Elyott  and  Jonathan  Negoose ;  the  Fort  Hill,  by 
James  Penn  and  Richard  Griclley  ;  the  Mylne  field, 
by  John  Button  and  Edward  Bendall,  and  the  New 
Field  by  John  Audley  and  Thomas  Faireweather." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  if  the  rule  adopted  was  carried 
out,  that  there  were  four  or  more  large  cornfields  in 
Boston,  and  that  the  principal  work  of  the  people 
for  a  time  was  the  raising  of  corn.  At  a  later  period 
parcels  of  corn  were  occasionally  presented  or  sent 
to  the  governor  by  the  Indians,  who  had  their  corn- 
fields before  the  English  people  arrived.  In  fact,  it 
is  recorded  in  the  next  month  after  the  arrival  of 
Winthrop,  that  so  much  provision  had  been  sold  to 
the  Indians  for  beaver,  that  food  became  scarce  ;  and 
in  October,  1630,  a  vessel  was  sent  to  the  Narra- 
gansetts  to  trade,  and  brought  home   one   hundred 


THE   BOSTON   CORNFIELDS.  41 

bushels  of  corn.  In  Ma}^,  1631,  corn  in  Boston  was 
ten  shillings  a  bushel,  as  probably  much  was  required 
for  planting  at  this  time.  In  August,  1633,  a  great 
scarcity  of  corn  was  reported  ;  and  in  November,  the 
next  year,  a  vessel  arrived  from  Narragansett  with 
five  hundred  bushels  of  Indian  corn.  It  is  very  clear 
that  corn  was  very  early,  and  for  some  time,  the  great 
dependence  of  the  settlers. 

In  Plymouth  Colony,  in  1630,  the  salary  of  the 
messenger  of  the  General  Court  was  thirty  bushels 
of  corn.  In  1685,  the  secretary's  wages  was  fifteen 
pounds  a  year,  payable  in  corn  at  two  shillings  per 
bushel.  In  1690,  "  one  third  the  Governor's  salary 
ordered  to  be  paid  in  money,  the  rest  in  corne." 

In  1637,  April  16,  "all  the  fences  and  gates  to  be 
made  up.  Sargeant  Hutchinson  and  Richard  Gridley 
to  look  after  the  Fort  Field;  John  Button,  James 
Everett  and  Isaac  Grosse,  in  the  Mill  Field  ;  Win 
Colburn  and  Jacob  Elyott  on  the  Field  next  Rox- 
burie."  Again,  in  1640,  March  30,  "  To  look  to  the 
fences:  Richard  Fairbanks  and  William  Salter  the 
field  towards  Roxbury;  Benj.  Gillam  and  Edmd 
Jacklyn,  the  Fort  Field  ;  Wm.  Hudson  and  Edward 
B  end  all  the  New  Field  ;  Mr.  Valentine  Hill  and 
John  Button,  the  Mill  Field." 

Dr.  Shurtleff,  in  his  "  Topographical  and  Historical 
Description  of  Boston,"  enumerates  five  fields  as  fol- 
lows, and  speaks  of  them  as  ungranted  lands  :  "  The 
land  around  Copps'  Hill,  was  known  as  the  Mylne 
Field,  or  Mill  Field ;  that  around  Fort  Hill,  the  Fort 
Field ;  that  at  the  Neck,  the  Neck  Field,  or  the  Field 
towards  Roxbury ;    that   where   Beacon   Hill   Place 


42  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

now  is,  Centry  Hill  Field, 'and  that  west  of  Lynde 
Street,  and  north  of  Cambridge,  the  New  Mill  Field, 
or  the  New  Field."  And  to  show  that  these  were 
not  waste  lands  or  pastures,  the  writer  enumerates 
the  various  pastures  for  cattle,  besides  the  privileges 
at  Muddy  Brook  and  Winnisimmet,  as  follows: 
"  Besides  the  fields  there  were  many  pastures,  so 
called :  Christopher  Stanley's  was  at  the  North  End, 
covering  the  region  of  North  Bennet  Street,  between 
Hanover  and  Salem  Streets  ;  Buttolph's  was  south  of 
Cambridge  Street ;  Tucker's,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Lyman  Street ;  Rowe's,  east  of  Rowe  Street ;  Wheel- 
er's, where  the  southerly  end  of  Chauncy  Street  is ; 
Atkinson's,  where  Atkinson  Street  was  a  few  years 
ago,  and  where  Congress  Street  now  is."  And  besides 
these  he  names  Leverett's  on  Leverett  Street ;  Mid- 
dlecott's  on  Bowdoin  Street ;  another  on  Winter  and 
Tremont  Streets,  and,  as  he  says,  "  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  other  great  lots." 

And  strange  to  say,  in  all  this  history,  contem- 
porary or  modern,  in  only  a  single  instance,  so  far  as 
we  know,  are  these  fields  or  any  one  of  them  spoken 
of  as  a  "  cornfielde,"  and  that  is  in  the  order  of  1636, 
above  quoted.  There  is,  however,  one  other  reference 
to  them  made,  in  1657,  in  the  body  of  instructions 
prepared  for  the  selectmen  to  guide  them  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duties:  "Relying  on  your  wisdom 
and  care  in  seeking  the  good  of  the  town,  we  recom- 
mend that  you  cause  to  be  executed  all  the  orders  of 
the  town  which  you  have  on  the  records,"  &c,  "  as 
found  in  the  printed  laws  under  the  titles  Townships, 
Freeman,  Highways,  Small   Causes,  Indians,  Corn- 


THE   BOSTON   CORNFIELDS.  43 

fields,"  &c,  which  would  assuredly  show  that  there 
were  cornfields  in  the  town,  distinct  from  pastures  or 
waste  lands,  undoubtedly  laid  out  and  divided  among 
the  people,  as  already  indicated,  for  their  special 
cultivation. 

If,  as  we  believe,  the  "fields"  enumerated  were 
cornfields,  and  cultivated  in  the  manner  suggested,  — 
at  first  one  field,  and  year  by  year,  as  necessity  should 
require,  a  new  field  added,  —  there  would  naturally 
become,  among  a  people  situated  as  they  were,  a 
necessity  for  a  granary  for  the  storing  and  preserva- 
tion of  their  crops.  Consequently,  in  the  enumeration 
of  public  buildings  in  Boston  at  a  later  period,  we 
find  mentioned  "a  public  granary."  The  burying- 
ground  on  Tromont  Street,  known  as  the  Granary 
Burying-Ground,  was  laid  out  on  land  taken  from 
the  Common  in  1660,  and,  of  course,  took  its  name 
from  the  granary,  which  was  built  soon  after  on 
what  was  afterwards  Centry  Street,  and  now  Park 
Street.  Shurtleff  says  the  land  was  first  taken 
for  the  purpose,  and  "  then,  when  the  need  came,  a 
building,  eighty  feet  by  thirty  feet,  for  a  public  gran- 
ary, was  erected,  and  subsequently,  in  1737,  removed 
to  the  corner,  its  end  fronting  on  the  principal  street 
(Tremont).  It  stood  until  1809,  when  it  gave  place 
to  Park  Street  Church."  So  that,  though  latterly 
for  some  years  used  for  another  purpose,  the  granary 
stood  in  Boston  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  forty 
years.  It  is  described  as  a  long  wooden  building,  and 
was  calculated  to  hold  twelve  thousand  bushels  of 
corn. 

In  1733,  it  would  seem  that  corn  or  other  grain 


44  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 

continued  to  be  grown  in  Boston,  as  in  October  of 
that  year  it  was  determined  to  erect  a  granary  at  the 
North  End,  "not  to  exceed  £100  "  in  cost.  In  the 
records  of  the  selectmen,  it  is  called  a  meal-house, 
and  John  Jeffries,  Esq.,  and  Mr.  David  Colson,  two 
of  the  selectmen,  were  to  contract  for  the  work  on  a 
piece  of  land  near  the  North  Mill,  belonging  to  the 
town. 

So  that  at  what  time  the  cultivation  of  corn  ceased 
in  Boston,  it  is  impossible  to  tell ;  but  it  would  seem, 
from  the  necessity  for  a  new  granary  in  1733,  that  it 
must  have  continued  for  considerably  more  than  a 
hundred  years  after  the  settlement  of  the  town. 


IV. 
PURITAN   GOVERNMENT. 


The  early  government  of  the  Puritans  in  Boston 
was  a  sort  of  extemporary  government,  or,  as  it  lias 
been  described,  u  temporary  usurpation," — a  govern- 
ment of  opinions  and  prejudices,  and  in  small  sense  a 
government  of  law.  It  had  some  of  the  features  of  a 
family  government,  without  system  or  order.  If  the 
inhabitant  offended,  or  did  any  thing  which  was  not 
thought  proper  by  the  Church,  the  assistants,  or  any- 
body else,  fine  or  punishment  was  pretty  sure  to  fol- 
low. To  be  sure  there  was  the  Massachusetts  Colony 
Charter  somewhere ;  but  it  is  singular  that  the  copy 
of  it  found  among  Hutchinson's  papers,  and  since 
printed,  is  certified  to  be  a  "  true  copy  of  such  letters 
patents  under  the  great  seal  of  England,"  by  John 
Winthrop,  Governor,  dated  "  this  19th  day  of  the 
month  called  March,  1613-1644."  This  verbose  and 
p°culiar  document  gives  authorit}^  to  the  company 
in  the  matter  of  government  in  the  following  elabo- 
rate form :  — 

"And  wee  do  of  our  further  grace,  certaine  knowledge  and 
meere  motion  give  and  grant  to  the  said  Governor  and  Com- 
pany and  their  successors,  that  it  shall  and  may  he  lawfull  to 
and  for  the  Governour  or  deputy  Governor  and  such  of  the 

45 


46  CXIPvIOSITIES   OF  HISTOEY. 

Assistants  and  Freemen  of  the  said  Company  for  the  tyme 
being  as  shall  be  assembled  in  any  of  their  generall  courts 
aforesaid,  or  in  any  other  courts  to  be  specially  summoned 
and  assembled  for  that  purpose,  or  the  greater  part  of  them 
(whereof  the  Governour  or  deputy  Governor  and  sixe  of  the 
Assistants  to  be  always  seven)  from  tyme  to  tyme  to  make, 
ordaine  and  establish  all  manner  of  wholesome  and  reasonable 
orders,  lawes,  statutes  and  ordinances,  directions  and  instruc- 
tions not  contrary  to  the  lawes  of  this  our  realme  of  England,  as 
well  for  the  settling  of  the  formes  and  ceremonies  of  govern- 
ment and  magistracie  fitt  and  necessary  for  the  said  plantation 
and  the  inhabitants  there,  and  for  nameing  and  styling  of  all 
sorts  of  officers  both  superiour  and  inferiour  which  they  shall 
find  needful  for  that  government  and  plantation,  and  the  dis- 
tinguishing and  setting  forth  of  the  severall  duties,  powers  and 
limits  of  every  such  office  and  place,  and  the  formes  of  such 
oathes  warrantable  by  the  lawes  and  statutes  of  this  our  realme 
of  England  as  shall  be  respectively  ministred  unto  them,  for 
the  execution  of  the  said  several  offices  and  places,  as  also  for 
the  disposing  and  ordering  of  the  elections  of  such  of  the  said 
officers  as  shall  be  annuall,  and  of  such  others  as  shall  be  to 
succeed  in  case  of  death  or  removall,  and  ministring  the  said 
oathes  to  the  new  elected  officers,  and  for  imposition  of  lawfull 
fynes,  mulcts,  imprisonment  or  other  lawfull  correction,  ac- 
cording to  the  course  of  other  Corporations  in  this  our  realme 
of  England,  and  for  the  directing,  ruleing  and  disposeing  of  all 
other  matters  and  things  whereby  our  said  people  inhabiting 
there  may  be  so  religiously,  peaceably  and  civily  governed,  as 
theire  good  life  and  orderly  conversation  may  winne  and  incite 
the  natives  of  that  country  to  the  knowledge  and  obedience  of 
the  onely  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind  and  the  christian 
faith,  which  in  our  royall  intention  and  the  adventurers  free 
profession  is  the  principal  end  of  this  plantation." 


The  charter  goes  on  to  give  authority  to  com- 
manders, captains,  governors,  and  all  other  officers 
for  the  time  being,  "to  correct,  punish,  pardon,  gov- 


PUEITAN   GOVERNMENT.  47 

ern  and  rule  all  such  the  subjects  of  us,  our  heires 
and  successors,  as  shall  from  tyme  to  tyme  adventure 
themselves  in  any  voyage  thither  or  from  thence,  or 
that  shall  at  any  tyme  hereafter  inhabit  within  the 
precincts  and  parts  of  New  England  aforesaid,  accord- 
ing to  the  orders,  lawes,  ordinances,  instructions  and 
directions  aforesaid,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  and 
statutes  of  our  realme  of  England  as  aforesaid." 
And  in  order  to  make  the  laws  of  these  officers 
known,  it  is  provided,  as  printing  would  not  be  prac- 
ticable, that  they,  shall  be  "  published  in  writing 
under  theire  common  seale." 

But  it  would  seem,  notwithstanding,  that  the 
authority  exercised  by  the  company  was  at  first  ex- 
ecutive rather  than  legislative ;  and  Mr.  Savage  re- 
marks, that  the  body  of  the  people  "  submitted  at 
first  to  the  mild  and  equal  temporary  usurpation  of 
the  officers,  chosen  by  themselves,  which  was  also 
justified  by  indisputable  necessity."  The  first  "  Court 
of  Assistants"  was  held  at  Charlestown,  Aug.  23, 
1630 ;  and  the  first  thing  propounded  was,  "  how  the 
ministers  shall  be  maintained,"  and  it  was  determined, 
of  course,  at  the  public  charge.  Gov.  Winthrop, 
Lieut.-Gov.  Dudley,  and  the  assistants  were  present ; 
and  this  body  carried  on  the  government —  what  there 
was  of  it  —  "in  a  simply  patriarchal  manner,"  until 
"the  first  General  Court  or  meeting  of  the  whole 
company  at  Boston,  19  October,"  1631,  and  this  was 
held  "for  the  establishing  of  the  government."  It 
was  now  determined  that  "  the  freemen  should  have 
the  power  of  choosing  assistants,  and  from  themselves 
to  choose  a  Governor  and  Lieut.  Governor,  who  with 


48  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

the  assistants  should  have  the  power  of  making  laws 
and  choosing  officers  to  execute  the  same."  This  is 
the  brief  history  of  the  origin  of  a  local  government 
in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  if  it  may  be  so 
called.  It  was  autocratic  for  the  first  year  and  after- 
wards, although  fully  assented  to  by  a  general  vote  of 
the  people. 

At  first,  of  course,  there  were  no  laws ;  and  pun- 
ishments were  adjudged  and  inflicted,  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  charter,  not  only  for  trivial  matters,  as 
the}*  would  be  now  considered,  but  for  very  question- 
able, if  not  ludicrous,  matters,  — and  all  this,  it  would 
seem,  without  respect  of  persons :  for,  as  early  as 
Nov.  30,  1630,  at  a  court,  it  was  ordered  that  one' of ' 
the  assistants  be  fined  five  pounds  for  whipping  two 
persons  without  the  presence  of  another  assistant, 
contrary  to  an  act  of  court  formerly  made ;  so  that 
this  very  early  exercise  of  authority  was  not  under  a 
law  made  after  the  fact.  At  the  same  court  another 
person  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  for  shooting  a 
fowl  on  the  sabbath  day;  and  this,  probably,  was 
ex  jiost  facto.  In  1631,  a  man  was  fined  five  pounds 
for  taking  upon  himself  the  cure  of  scurvy  by  a  water 
of  no  value,  and  selling  it  at  a  dear  rate ;  to  be  im- 
prisoned until  he  paid  the  fine,  or  whipped.  In  1632, 
the  first  thief  was  sentenced  to  lose  his  estate,  pay 
double  what  he  had  stolen,  be  whipped,  bound  out 
for  three  years,  and  after  that  be  dealt  with  as  the 
court  directs.  Other  offences,  or  what  not,  were 
punished  bj-  -'  taking  life  and  limb,  branding  with  a 
hot  iron,  clipping  off  ears,"  &c.  Indians  also  were 
proceeded  against,  in  many  cases  by  fines,  penalties, 
and  punishments. 


PUEITAN   GOVEENMENT.  49 

John  Legge,  a  servant,  was  ordered  "  to  be  whipt 
this  day  [May  3,  1631]  at  Boston,  and  afterwards,  so 
soon  as  convenient  may  be,  at  Salem,  for  striking 
Richard  Wright."  Richard  Hopkins  was  ordered  to 
be  severely  whipped,  and  branded  with  a  hot  iron  on 
one  of  his  cheeks,  for  selling  guns,  powder,  and  shot 
to  the  Indians.  Joyce  Brad  wick  was  ordered  to  pay 
Alexander  Beck  twenty  dollars  for  promising  mar- 
riage without  her  friends'  consent,  and  now  refusing 
to  perform  the  same.  This  was  in  1632,  and  is  un- 
doubtedly the  first  breach-of-promise  case  that  had 
occurred  in  the  colony. 

It  was  ordered  if  any  one  deny  the  Scriptures  to  be 
the  word  of  God,  to  be  fined  fifty  pounds,  or  whipped 
forty  stripes ;  if  they  recant,  to  pay  ten  pounds,  and 
whipped  if  they  pay  not  that.  A  man,  who  had  been 
punished  for  being  drunk,  was  ordered  to  wear  a  red 
D  about  his  neck  for  a  year. 

The  case  of  one  Knower,  at  Boston,  1631,  is  spoken 
of  as  curious,  showing  that  the  court,  usurper  and 
tyrant  as  it  was,  had  no  intention  of  being  slighted, 
underestimated,  or  intimidated.  "Thomas  Knower 
was  set  in  bilbows  for  threatening  the  Court,  that  if 
he  should  be  punished,  he  would  have  it  tried  in 
England,  whether  he  was  lawfully  punished  or  not." 
And  for  this  he  was  punished. 

1631.  —  Philip  Radcliffe,  for  censuring  the  churches 
and  government,  has  his  ears  cut  off,  is  whipped  and 
banished. 

1636.  —  If  any  inhabitants  entertained  strangers 
over  fourteen  days,  without  leave  "from  those  yt  are 
appointed  to  order  the  Town's  businesses,"  they  were 


50  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

made  liable  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  "  overseers"  (be- 
fore there  were  selectmen)  as  they  thought  advisable. 

In  1637,  "  a  law  was  made  that  none  should  be 
received  to  inhabit  within  the  jurisdiction  but  such  as 
should  be  allowed  by  some  of  the  magistrates ;  and  it 
was  fully  understood  that  differing  from  the  religions 
generally  received  in  the  country,  was  as  great  a  dis- 
qualification as  any  political  opinions  whatever." 
On  this  subject  Judge  Minot  says,  "Whilst  they 
scrupulously  regulated  the  morals  of  the  inhabitants 
within  the  colony,  they  neglected  not  to  prevent  the 
contagion  of  dissimilar  habits  and  heretical  principles 
from  without.  ...  No  man  could  be  qualified  either 
to  elect  or  be  elected  to  office  who  was  not  a  church 
member,  and  no  church  could  be  formed  but  by  a 
license  from  a  magistrate." 

In  1640,  in  the  case  of  Josias  Plaistow  for  stealing 
four  baskets  of  corn  from  the  Indians,  he  was  ordered 
to  return  eight  baskets,  "to  be  fined  £5,  and  to  be 
called  Josias,  and  not  Mr.  Josias  Plaistow,  as  he 
formerly  used  to  be." 

A  carpenter  was  employed  to  make  a  pair  of  stocks ; 
and,  it  being  adjudged  that  he  charged  too  much  for 
his  work,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  put  in  them  for  one 
hour.  A  servant,  charged  with  slandering  the  Church, 
was  whipped,  then  deprived  of  his  ears  and  ban- 
ished. This  punishment  was  deemed  severe,  and  ex- 
cited some  remarks  upon  the  subject. 

A  Capt.  Stone  was  fined  one  hundred  pounds 
and  prohibited  from  coming  into  Boston  without  the 
governor's  leave  on  pain  of  death,  for  calling  Justice 
Ludlow  a  "just-ass."    Another  party,  for  being  drunk, 


PURITAN   GOVERNMENT.  51 

was  sentenced  to  carry  forty  turfs  to  the  fort ;  while 
another,  being  in  the  company  of  drunkards,  was  set 
in  the  stocks. 

But  finally  the  Court  of  Assistants  began  to  make 
laws,  or  lay  down  rules  of  some  sort.  As  for  example : 
Every  one  shall  pay  a  penny  sterling  for  every  time  of 
taking  tobacco  in  any  place.  In  Plymouth  Colony 
the  law  was  less  stringent:  there  a  man  was  fined 
five  shillings  for  taking  tobacco  while  on  a  jury,  before 
a  verdict  had  been  rendered.  Absence  from  church 
subjected  the  delinquent  to  a  fine  of  ten  shillings  or 
imprisonment.  Any  one  entering  into  a  private  con- 
ference at  a  public  meeting  shall  forfeit  twelve  pence 
for  public  uses.  1642,  Mr.  Robert  Saltonstall  is  fined 
five  shillings  for  presenting  his  petition  on  so  small 
and  bad  a  piece  of  paper  ;  and  this,  it  seems,  was  after 
it  had  been  determined  "  that  a  body  of  laws  should 
be  framed  which  would  be  approved  of  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  and  some  of  the  ministers  as  a  funda- 
mental code."  Notwithstanding  this,  in  all  cases, 
like  the  above,  where  there  was  no  law,  one  was 
made,  or  inferred,  to  meet  the  case  ;  so  that,  after  the 
establishment  of  a  "  fundamental  code,"  there  was 
about  as  much  ex  post  facto  law  as  before.  Among 
the  laws  or  orders  of  the  "  fundamental  code  "  was 
one,  "  that  no  person,  Householder  or  others,  shall 
spend  his  time  unprofitably  under  paine  of  such 
punishment  as  the  court  shall  think  meet  to  inflict;" 
and  "  the  constables  were  ordered  to  take  knowledge 
of  offenders  of  this  kind,"  and,  among  others,  espe- 
cially tobacco-takers.  Another  was,  "that  no  person 
either  man  or  woman  shall  make  or  buy  any  slashed 


52  CURIOSITIES   OF  HISTORY. 

clothes,  other  than  one  slash  in  each  sleeve  and  an- 
other in  the  back ;  also  all  cuttworks,  imbroiclered  or 
needle  workt  caps,  bands,  vayles,  are  forbidden  here- 
after to  be  made  or  worn  under  said  penalty  —  also 
all  gold  or  silver  girdles,  hatbands,  belts,  ruffs,  beaver 
hats,  are  prohibited  to  be  bought  or  worn  hereafter, 
under  the  aforesaid  penalty,"  &c.  The  penalty  is 
such  punishment  as  the  Court  may  think  meet  to 
inflict. 

In  addition  to  these,  the  code  went  still  further  in 
regulating  the  dress  of  women  :  "  4th  of  7th  month 
[September,  as  the  year  began  with  March,  until 
1752],  1639,  Boston.  No  garments  shall  be  made 
with  short  sleeves,  whereby  the  nakedness  of  the  arm 
may  be  discovered  in  the  wearing  thereof ; "  and, 
where  garments  were  already  made  with  short 
sleeves,  the  arms  to  be  covered  with  linen  or  other- 
wise. No  person  was  allowed  to  make  a  garment  for 
women  with  sleeves  more  than  half  an  ell  wide,  and 
"  so  proportionate  for  bigger  or  smaller  persons." 

In  the  matter  of  currency,  it  was  ordered,  in  1634, 
"  that  musket  balls  of  a  full  boar  shall  pass  currently 
for  farthings  apiece,  provided  that  no  man  be  com- 
pelled to  take  above  12  pence  at  a  time  in  them." 

It  would  seem  that  some  of  these  decisions,  or  the 
general  character  of  the  government,  had  caused 
some  remark,  as  it  was  "  ordered  that  Henry  Lyn 
shall  be  whipt  and  banished  the  Plantation  before 
the  6th  day  of  October  next,  for  writing  into  Eng- 
land falsely  and  maliciously  against  the  government 
and  execution  of  Justice  here."  "Execution  of  jus- 
tice "  is  good,  we  should  say. 


PURITAN   GOVERNMENT.  53 

Ward,  in  his  "  Trip  to  New  England,"  a  very 
coarse  and  abusive  paper,  published  in  London,  in 
1706,  in  a  book  called  "  London  Spy,"  says, 
in  Boston  "if  you  kiss  a  woman  in  publick,  tho' 
offered  as  a  Courteous  Salutation,  if  any  information 
is  given  to  the  Select  Members,  both  shall  be  whipt 
or  fined."  He  relates,  that  "  a  captain  of  a  certain 
ship,  who  had  been  a  long  voyage,  happen'd  to  meet 
his  wife,  and  kist  her  in  the  street,  for  which  he 
was  fined  Ten  Shillings,  and  forc'cl  to  pay  the 
Money.  Another  inhabitant  of  the  town  was  fin'd- 
Ten  Shillings  for  kissing  his  own  wife  in  his  Garden, 
and  obstinately  refusing  to  pay  the  Money,  endur'd 
Twenty  Lashes  at  the  Gun,  who,  in  Revenge  for  his 
Punishment,  swore  he  would  never  kiss  her  again 
either  in  Publick  or  Private." 

John  Dunton,  in  his  famous  work,  "  Dunton's  Life 
and  Errors,"  speaks  of  the  government,  when  he  was 
in  Boston,  in  1686.  He  says,  "  Let  it  be  enough  to 
say,  The  laws  in  force  here,  against  immorality  and 
prophaneness,  are  very  severe.  Witchcraft  is  pun- 
ish'd  with  death,  as  'tis  well  known ;  and  theft  with 
restoring  fourfold,  if  the  Criminal  be  sufficient.  — 
An  English  woman,  admitting  some  unlawful  free- 
doms from  an  Indian,  was  forc'd  twelve  months  to 
wear  upon  her  Right  arm  an  Indian  cut  in  red 
cloath." 

The  uBody  of  Liberties,"  as  it  was  strangely 
called,  contained  an  hundred  laws,  which  had  been 
drawn  up  pursuant  to  an  order  of  the  General  Court, 
by  Nathaniel  Ward,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Ipswich, 
who  had  been  formerly  a  practitioner  of  law  in  Eng- 


54  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

land  ;  and  this  book  was  printed  by  Daye,  the  first 
printer,  at  Cambridge  in  1641.     (Thomas,  p.  47.) 

There  was  also  published  in  1649  a  "Book  of  Gen- 
eral Laws  and  Liberties,  concerning  the  Inhabitants  of 
Massachusetts."  By  these,  gaming  by  shuffle-board 
and  bowling  at  houses  of  entertainment,  where  there 
was  "much  waste  of  wine  and  beer,"  were  prohibited 
under  pain  for  ever}^  keeper  of  such  house  twenty 
shillings,  and  every  person  playing  at  said  games,  five 
shillings.  For  "  damnable  heresies,"  as  they  were 
called,  banishment  was  the  appropriate  punishment. 

Oldmixon  mentions  a  singular  law.  He  says,  "  The 
goodness  of  the  pavement  may  compare  with  most  in 
London :  to  gallop  a  horse  on  it  is  3  shillings  and 
four  pence  forfeit."  This  was  more  than  a  hundred 
years  after  the  settlement  of  the  town,  and  less  than 
forty  years  before  the  commencement  of  the  revolu- 
tionary war. 

A  letter  from  London,  from  Edward  Howes  to  his 
relative,  J.  Winthrop,  jun.,  dated  April  3,  1632,  says, 
"  I  have  heard  divers  complaints  against  the  severity 
of  your  government,  especially  Mr.  Endicott's,  and 
that  he  shall  be  sent  for  over,  about  cutting  off  the 
lunatick  man's  ears  and  other  grievances  "  (Savage's 
Winthrop,  p.  56,  vol.  1). 

In  respect  to  the  levying  of  fines,  Gov.  Winthrop, 
who  was  accused  of  not  demanding  their  payment  in 
some  cases,  remarked,  "  that  in  his  judgment,  it  were 
not  fit  in  the  infancy  of  a  Commonwealth  to  be  too 
strict  in  levying  fines,  though  severe  in  other  punish- 
ments." 

It  has  been  well  said  that  "  religion  and  laws  were 


PURITAN   GOVERNMENT.  55 

closely  intertwined  in  the  Puritan  community ;  the 
government  felt  itself  bound  to  expatriate  every  dis- 
orderly person,  as  much  as  the  church  was  bound  to 
excommunicate  him.  They  were  like  a  household. 
They  had  purchased  their  territory  for  a  home  ;  it 
wTas  no  El  Dorado  ;  it  was  their  Mount  of  Sion.  With 
immense  toil  and  unspeakable  denials,  they  had  res- 
cued it  from  the  wild  woods  for  the  simple  purpose 
that  they  might  have  a  place  for  themselves  and  their 
children  to  worship  God  undisturbed.  They  knew 
nothing  of  toleration.  Their  right  to  shut  the  door 
against  intruders  seemed  to  them  as  undoubted  and 
absolute  as  their  right  to  breathe  the  air  around 
them?' 1 

This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  Puritan  gov- 
ernment as  long  as  it  lasted.  Under  the  charter,  or 
without  the  charter,  they  made  such  laws  as  they 
pleased,  before  or  after  the  occasion.  They  pun- 
ished every  thing  which  they  thought  to  be  wrong, 
or  which  did  not  conform  to  their  notions  of  pro- 
priety or  their  practice,  and  this,  too,  without  con- 
sistency or  discrimination. 

In  1639,  Winthrop  says,  "  The  people  had  long  de- 
sired a  body  of  laws,  and  thought  their  condition 
very  unsafe,  while  so  much  power  rested  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  magistrates.  Divers  attempts  had 
been  made  at  former  courts,  and  the  matter  referred 
to  some  of  the  magistrates  and  some  of  the  elders, 
[the  church  and  state,  in  such  cases,  were  invaria- 
bly united,]  but  still  it  came  to  no  effect,  for  being 

1  The  New  England  Tragedies  in  Prose,  by  Rowland  H.  Allen. 


56  CURIOSITIES   OF    HISTORY. 

committed  to  the  care  of  so  many,  whatsoever  was 
done  by  some,  was  still  disliked  or  neglected  by 
others."  So  that  it  is  doubtful  if  they  ever  really 
had  a  set  of  laws  that  were  relied  upon ;  that  limited 
the  discretion  of  the  magistrates,  or  was  ever  reason- 
ably and  impartially  enforced.  If  the  law  failed  to 
be  adequate,  it  seemed  to  be  proper  for  the  magis- 
trate to  make  it  so ;  and  he  not  only  supplied  the 
deficiency,  but  occasionally  coined  or  misconstrued  a 
law  for  his  purpose.  Such  a  government  might  well 
be  considered  "  unsafe." 


V. 
THE  NARRAGANSETT  INDIANS. 


VISIT  TO  BOSTON. 

The  Narragansett  Indians  were  one  of  the  largest, 
if  not  the  very  largest,  tribe  in  New  England,  at  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Puritans  ;  and  they  were 
especially  friendly  to  the  settlers.  They  lived  along 
the  coast,  from  Stonington  to  Point  Judith,  on  Nar- 
ragansett Bay.  "  They  consisted,"  says  Hutchinson, 
"  of  several  lesser  principalities,  but  all  united  under 
one  general  ruler,  called  the  Chief  Sachem,  to  whom 
all  others  owed  some  kind  of  fealty  or  subjection." 
The  Nianticks  were  considered  as  a  branch  of  the 
Narragansetts,  having  very  likely  been  conquered  by 
them,  and  brought  under  their  subjection. 

A  letter  of  Roger  Williams,  who  was  intimate 
with,  and  a  strong  friend  of,  the  Narragansett 
Indians,  says  they  were  "■  the  settlers'  fast  friends, 
had  been  true  in  all  the  Pequot  wars,  were  the  means 
of  the  coming  in  of  the  Mohegans,  never  had  shed 
English  blood,  and  many  settlers  had  had  experience 
of  the  love  and  desire  of  peace  which  prevailed 
among  them." 

In  October,  1636,  after  the  murder  of  Mr.  Oldham, 
Gov.  Vane  invited  their  sachem,  Miantonomo,  to  visit 
Boston,  which  he  soon  after  did,  bringing  with  him 

57 


58  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

another  sachem,  two.  sons  of  Canonicus,  and  about 
twenty  men.  The  governor  sent  twenty  musketeers 
to  Roxbury  to  meet  them  and  escort  them  into  town. 
The  sachems  and  their  council  dined  together  in  the 
same  room  with  the  governor  and  his  ministers. 
After  dinner  a  friendly  treaty  was  made  with  Mian- 
ton  orao,  and  signed  by  the  parties  ;  and,  although  at 
this  time  the  English  thought  the  Indians  did  not 
understand  it,  they  kept  it  faithfully  ;  but  the  Eng- 
lish, who  were  afterwards  instrumental  in  the  death 
of  Miantonomo,  did  not.  The  Indians  were  subse- 
quently escorted  out  of  town,  "  and  dismissed  with  a 
volley  of  shot ;  "  and  the  famous  Roger  Williams  was 
appointed  to  explain  the  treaty  to  the  Indians. 

In  this  treaty,  Canonicus,  wdio  was  the  chief  sachem 
of  the  tribe,  and  is  said  to  have  been  "  a  just  man, 
and  a  friend  of  the  English,"  was  represented  by 
Miantonomo,  his  nephew,  whom  Canonicus,  on  ac- 
count of  his  age,  had  caused  to  assume  the  govern- 
ment. The  deputation  that  Gov.  Vane  sent  to  the 
Narragansetts  in  the  matter  of  the  murder  of  Mr. 
Oldham,  speak  of  Canonicus  "as  a  sachem  of  much 
state,  great  command  over  his  men,  and  much  wisdom 
in  his  answers  and  the  carriage  of  the  whole  treaty  ; 
clearing  himself  and  his  neighbors  of  the  murder,  and 
offering  assistance  for  revenge  of  it."  Johnson 
represents  Miantonomo  "  as  a  sterne,  severe  man,  of 
great  stature  and  a  cruel  nature,  causing  all  his 
nobility  and  such  as  were  his  attendants  to  tremble 
at  his  speech." 


THE  NARRAGANSETT   INDIANS.  59 


INDIAN  ART. —  CURIOUS  MARRIAGE. 

The  Narragansetts  not  only  coined  money  (warn- 
pumpeag),  but  manufactured  pendants  and  bracelets, 
—  using  shells,  we  presume,  for  these  purposes.  They 
also  made  tobacco-pipes,  some  blue  and  some  white, 
out  of  stone,  and  furnished  earthen  vessels  and  pots 
for  cooker}^  and  other  domestic  uses,  —  so  that  they 
had  several  approximations,  in  these  respects,  to 
civilization  and  art,  not  so  distinctly  manifested  by 
other  tribes.  They  had,  in  fact,  commercial  relations 
with  other  people  and  distant  nations,  and,  it  seems, 
were  sometimes  sneered  at  on  account  of  their  disin- 
clination for  war,  —  preferring  other  service. 

There  is  evidence,  alsov  that  they  considered  them- 
selves—  in  some  respects,  at  least  —  superior  to 
other  Indians  ;  and  this  is  illustrated  by  a  very  curious 
piece  of  history,  said  to  be  "  the  only  tradition  of  any 
sort  from  the  ancestors  of  our  first  Indians."  It 
seems  that  the  oldest  Indians  among  the  Narragan- 
setts reported  to  the  English,  on  their  first  arrival, 
"that  they  had  in  former  times  a  sachem  called  Tash- 
tassuck,  who  was  incomparably  greater  than  any  in 
the  whole  land  in  power  and  state."  This  great 
sachem  —  who,  it  would  seem,  had  the  power  to 
elevate,  and,  in  some  respects,  enlighten  his  race  — 
had  only  two  children,  a  son  and  daughter;  and,  not 
being  able  to  match  them  according  to  their  dignity, 
he  joined  them  together  in  matrimony,  and  they  had 
four  sons,  of  whom  Canonicus,  who  was  chief  sachem 
when  the  English  arrived,  was  the  eldest.  There  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  marriage  was  a  happy 


60  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

one,    agreeable   to   the   parties,   satisfactory   to   the 
parent,  and  certainly  famous  in  its  progeny. 

INTERMARRIAGE   AMONG   THE   EGYPTIANS. 

This  probably  is  the  only  record  of  such  a  marriage 
in  this  country.  The  form  of  family  marriage,  how- 
ever, it  is  a  matter  of  history,  was  common  among 
the  Egyptians,  and  probably  has  been  practised  more 
or  less  among  all  the  savage  nations  of  the  earth. 
Cleopatra,  the  daughter  of  Ptolemy  Auletes,  on  the 
death  of  her  father,  was  married,  according  to  his 
will,  to  Ptolemy  XII.,  his  eldest  son,  and  ascended 
the  throne  ;  both  being  minors,  Pompey  was  appoint- 
ed their  guardian.  In  the  wars  which  followed,  her 
husband  was  drowned,  and  she  then  married  her 
second  brother,  Ptolemy  (Necteros),  a  child  seven 
years  old.  Afterwards  she  became  the  mistress  of 
Caesar,  and  subsequently  poisoned  her  boy-husband, 
when  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  because  he  claimed  his 
share  of  the  Egyptian  crown.  So  that,  in  fact,  she 
made  war  against  her  first  husband,  and  poisoned  her 
second,  —  a  result  very  different  from  that  recorded  of 
the  Narragansett  intermarriage. 

MURDER    OF   MIANTONOMO. 

In  a  subsequent  Indian  war,  1643,  —  brought  about, 
it  is  said,  by  Connecticut,  between  the  Narragansetts 
and  the  Mohegans,  —  Miantonomo,  by  some  strange 
accident,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Uncas,  who,  for  fear 
of  retaliation,  instead  of  taking  his  life,  sent  him  to 
Hartford.  The  Connecticut  people,  in  their  turn, 
sent  him  to  Boston,  to  be  judged  by  the  Commission- 


THE   NARRAGANSETT   INDIANS.  61 

ers  of  the  United  Colonies ;  and  these  commissioners, 
"although  they  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  nor 
any  just  ground  of  complaint  against  the  sachem," 
came  to  the  conclusion  "  that  Uncas  would  not  be 
safe  if  he  were  suffered  to  live."  Drake  says, 
"  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  was  with  the  advice  of 
the  Elders  of  the  Churches"  (Winthrop  says  five  of 
the  most  judicious  elders)  that  it  was  determined 
Uncas  might  put  Miantonomo  to  death,  —  a  piece  of 
barbarism  and  injustice  hardly  matched  by  any  con- 
duct of  the  Indians.  He  was  taken  back  to  Uncas 
"  with  a  guard  of  English  soldiers,"  and  Uncas  readily 
undertook  the  execution  of  bis  victim.  When  he 
arrived  at  a  place  appointed,  a  brother  of  Uncas 
"  clave  his  head  with  a  hatchet."  "  Thus  inhumanly 
and  unjustly  perished  the  greatest  Indian  chief  of 
whom  any  account  is  found  in  New  England's 
annals."  Canonicus,  it  is  said,  was  greatly  affected 
by  the  death  of  his  nephew,  in  whom  he  always  had 
the  utmost  confidence,  and  regarded  him  with  the 
fondness  of  a  father.  Canonicus  died  in  1647.  After 
the  death  of  Miantonomo,  the  Narragansetts  were 
never  on  very  good  terms  with  the  English,  who  had 
suspected  them  once  or  twice  unjustly.  Hutchinson 
says,  "  The  Narragansetts  are  said  to  have  kept  to 
the  treaty  until  the  Pequods  were  destroyed,  and  then 
they  grew  insolent  and  treacherous."  It  certainly 
appears  that  they  were  not  well  used  by  the  English 
settlers,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  should  grow 
"  insolent  and  treacherous ;  "  for  the  treachery  appears 
to  have  been  first  against  them. 


VI. 
NAMES  OF  PLACES,  STREETS,  ETC. 


As  a  matter  of  course,  some  of  the  early  names  of 
places  in  and  around  Massachusetts  Bay  were  Indian 
names  or  corruptions,  until  others  were  applied,  as 
Shawmut,  Mishawam,  Mattapan,  Winnisimmet,  and 
others.  The  name  of  Plymouth,  of  course,  the  Pil- 
grims brought  with  them,  as  the  Puritans  did  the 
name  of  Salem  and  of  Boston.  But  just  how  the 
name  of  Massachusetts  originated  is  not  so  well 
known.  It  was  no  doubt  of  Indian  origin;  and  if 
derived  from  the  "greatest  king  of  the  Indians," 
Massasoit,  or,  as  Hutchinson  says,  Massasoiet,1  it  is 
well  that  it  has  been  so  preserved  and  perpetuated. 
Among  the  earliest  English  names,  besides  these 
mentioned,  were  the  names  applied  to  the  islands,  as 
Noddle's  Island,  which  possibly  was  given  to  it  by 
Maverick,  and  Bird  Island,  in  1630 ;  Lovell's  Island, 
in  1635,  and  several  others.  The  names  of  Black- 
stone,  Maverick,  and  Walford,2  the  original  settlers 

1  In  the  first  interview  between  Governor  Carver  of  Plymouth 
and  the  Indian  Chief  Massasoit,  "after  salutations,  the  Governor 
kissing  his  hand  and  the  king  kissing  him,  the  Governor  entertains 
him  with  some  refreshments,  and  then  they  agree  on  a  league  of 
friendship."    March  22,  1621. 

2  Walford  Street,  in  Charlestown,  we  believe,  has  been  cut  off  by 
the  Eastern  Railroad  freight  tracks  and  likely  to  be  lost. 

62 


NAMES   OF   PLACES,    STREETS,   ETC.  63 

of  Boston,  Noddle's  Island,  and  Charlestown,  have 
all  been  preserved  in  the  names  of  streets,  banks, 
&c,  although  two  of  them  (Blackstone  and  Wal- 
ford)  were  driven  away,  and  the  third,  though  living 
almost  alone  on  Noddle's  Island,  being  an  Episcopa- 
lian, was  rather  severeLv  treated  in  the  general  per- 
secutions of  the  time.  Of  the  Indian  names,  only  a 
few  of  them  have  been  preserved,  and  are  in  common 
use,  and  among  them  Shawmut,  Mishawam,  Win- 
nisimmet,  and  possibly  one  or  two  others.  In  the 
list  of  nearly  two  thousand  names  of  streets,  places, 
&c,  only  three  Indian  names  are  to  be  found,  name- 
ly, Shawmut,  Oneida,  and  Ontario. 

But  perhaps  the  most  curious  peculiarity  pre- 
vailed with  regard  to  the  naming  of  streets,  places, 
taverns,  trades,  &c,  in  Boston,  before  King  Street 
and  Queen  Street  had  been  named,  and  after  they 
had  passed  away.  King  Street  gave  way  to  State 
Street;  Queen  Street,  which  at  an  earlier  date  had 
been  called  Prison  Lane,  gave  way  to  Court  Street : 
still  some  of  the  old  English  names  remain.  Marl- 
borough, Newbury,  and  Orange,  all  English  names, 
gave  way  to  that  of  Washington,  and  this  street  has 
now  been  extended,  under  its  latest  name,  from  Hay- 
market  Square  (Mill  Creek)  to  Brookline  (Muddy 
Brook).  Formerly  it  extended  from  the  Gate  at  the 
Neck  to  Dock  Square,  and  bore  the  name  of  Orange 
Street  from  the  Gate  to  Eliot's  Corner  (Essex 
Street)  ;  Newbury  Street  from  Eliot's  Corner  to 
Bethune's  Corner  (West  Street)  ;  Marlborough 
Street  from  thence  to  Haugh's  Corner  (School 
Street)  ;  and  Cornhill  from  thence  to  Dock  Square. 


CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 


LANES   AND   ALLEYS. 


The  first  mention  of  any  alley  is  that  of  Paddy 
Alley1  (after  a  resident),  running  from  Ann  to  Mid- 
dle Street,  1658,  but  whether  so  named  before  or  after 
the  streets  which  it  connects  is  not  known.  Raw- 
son's  Lane,  afterwards  BromfiehTs  Lane,  and  now 
Bromfield  Street,  1693;  Black  Horse  Lane,  part  of 
what  is  now  known  as  Prince  Street,  1698 ;  Beer  Lane, 
part  of  Richmond  Street ;  Blind  Lane,  part  of  Bed- 
ford Street ;  Elbow  Alley,  which  was  in  the  form  of  a 
crescent,  from  Ann  to  Cross  Street ;  Pudding  Lane, 
part  of  Devonshire  Street — all  mentioned  in  17C8, 
when  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  streets,  lanes,  &c,  was 
prepared  and  published  b}r  the  Selectmen.  Among 
these  were  Frog  Lane,  Hog  Alley,  Sheafe  Lane, 
Blind  Lane,  Cow  Lane,  Flounder  Lane,  Crab  Lane, 
&c.  Probably  all  these  lanes  and  allej^s  were  laid  out 
or  established,  at  a  much  earlier  date  than  that  men- 
tioned.    Sheep  Lane  was  first  called  Hog  Lane,  in 

1  William  Paddy  died  in  1658,  and  the  alley  (now  North  Centre 
Street)  bore  his  name  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  When  some 
changes  "were  made  in  the  Old  State  House,  in  ISoO,  to  accommodate 
the  Boston  Post  Office,  a  stone  was  dug  up  which  proved  to  be  his 
grave-stone,  though  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  tell  how  it  came  there. 
On  one  side  of  it  was  the  inscription,  "Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mr. 
William  Paddy,  aged  58  years.  Departed  this  life  August  — ,  1658." 
And  on  the  other  side,  — 

"  Here  sleaps  that 

Blessed  one  whose  lief 

God  help  vs  all  to  live 

That  so  when  time  shall  be 

That  we  Ihis  world  must  lief 

We  ever  may  be  happy 

With  blessed  William  Paddy." 

It  may  be  concluded,  we  judge,  that  Paddy's  Alley  was  well 
named. 


FAMES    OF   PLACES,    STREETS,    ETC.  65 

1789  ;  Turn-again  Alley,  at  an  early  date,  was  near 
Hamilton  Place. 

The  first  lanes  and  possibly  alleys,  it  has  been  said, 
were  probably  cow-paths  or  foot-paths,  but  at  the  end 
of  seventy-eight  years,  in  1708,  they  had  undoubtedly 
all  received  names,  peculiar  as  some  of  them  were. 
Most  of  these  lanes  —  not  all  of  them  —  were  named 
after  residents  or  owners  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
alleys  were  each  named  after  some  citizen,  excepting 
where  there  might  be  some  local  name  or  peculiarity, 
as  Board  Alley,  Brick  Alley,  Crooked  Alley ;  and  so 
of  some  of  the  lanes  and  streets,  as  Bog  Lane,  Marsh 
Lane,  Well  Street,  Bath  Street,  Grape  Place,  Granite 
Place,  and  some  others. 

NAMES   OF    CORNERS. 

One  of  the  most  curious  collections  of  names  in 
the  list  of  1879,  is  that  of  "  Corners,"  not  now  recog- 
nized, and,  we  think,  never  before  recorded,  though 
occasionally  used  in  defining  the  limits  of  streets. 
Over  one  hundred  corners  are  named  in  this  list,  of 
which  about  eighty  of  them  bear  date  of  1708  and 
1732.  All  these  are  named  after  persons  occupying 
the  corners,  and  among  them  are  the  following:  An- 
tram's  Corner,  Ballantine's,  Barrili's,  Bill's,  Bows', 
and  Bull's  Corners  ;  Dafforne's,  Frary's,  and  Frizzel's 
Corners ;  Gee's,  Meer's,  Melynes',  Powning's,  Ruck's, 
and  Winsley's  Corners,  and  there  were  five  Clark's 
Corners  in  different  parts  of  the  town,  in  1 708-32.  At 
the  present  time,  as  in  the  early  time,  the  corners  of 
streets  may  be  spoken  of  and  referred  to,  but  are  not 
recognized  as  local  names  of  record. 


66  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

NAMES    OF   STREETS,   ETC. 

Names,  of  course,  of  some  kind  or  other,  local,  per- 
sonal, or  traditionary,  must  have  been  very  early  used 
in  the  settlement,  to  designate  places,  paths,  and  busi- 
ness, as  well  as  persons  and  things,  and  most  of  the^e 
have  been  preserved  and  remembered.  In  Drake's 
collection  of  local  names  there  are  nearly  one  thou- 
sand, including  the  names  of  islands,  wharves,  streets, 
taverns,  &c,  and  of  these  only  about  twenty  are  men- 
tioned by  date  prior  to  1700,  though  many  of  them 
must  have  been  in  use  long  before  that  time.  In  the 
collection  of  names  made  by  the  cnVv  government  in 
1879,  there  are  about  eighteen  hundred,  not  includ- 
ing islands,  wharves,  or  taverns.  The  earliest  dates 
attached  to  any  of  the  names  is  that  of  the  Anchor 
Tavern,  1661,  and  of  the  Alms  House  on  Sentry  or 
Park  Street,  1662. 

In  the  naming  of  streets,  as  in  the  laying  of  them 
-out,  there  appears  to  have  been  neither  rule,  system, 
or  order;  but  in  both  matters  the  action  depended 
upon  local  circumstances,  or  some  public  or  personal 
influence.  It  is  believed  that  the  first  movement  in 
laying  out  the  road  over  the  Neck  to  Roxbury,  what 
is  now  a  portion  of  Washington  Street,  was  in  June, 
1636,  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  is  agreed  that  there  shall  be  a  sufficient  foot- way  from 
William  Coleburne's  field-end  unto  Samuel  Wylebore's  field-end 
next  Roxbury,  by  the  surveyors  of  highways  before  the  last  of 
the  next  5th  month  "  (July,  1636). 

From  this  it  appears  that  there  were  at  this  early 
period  surveyors  of  highways,  and  that  highways,  to 


NAMES    OF   PLACES,    STREETS,   ETC.  67 

some  extent,  were  foot-ways.  The  foot-way  in  this 
case,  to  be  laid  out  in  one  month,  extended  as  sup- 
posed, from  the  corner  of  Boylston  Street  to  the 
northerly  line  of  Castle  Street,  that  being  the  north- 
erly end  of  Boston  Neck ;  and  the  road  or  way  laid 
out  after  this  time  to  Roxbury,  was  on  the  easterly 
side  of  the  present  Washington  Street,  all  the  way 
near  or  on  the  sea-beach,  and  probably  started  from 
near  Beach  Street. 

The  next  order  that  we  have  in  relation  to  the 
streets,  is  under  elate  of  1636,  4th,  8  mo.,  which  would 
be  Oct.  4,  1686,  and  is  as  follows :  — 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  overseers,"  it  was  ordered,  that  "  from 
this  day  there  shall  be  no  house  at  all  be  built  neare  unto  any 
streetes  or  laynes  therein,  but  with  the  consent  of  the  overseers, 
for  the  avoyding  disorderly  building  to  the  inconvenience  of 
streetes  and  laynes  and  for  the  more  comely  and  commodious 
ordering  of  them,  upon  the  forfeiture  of  such  sume  as  the  over- 
seers shall  see  fitting." 

Soon  after  this,  liberty  was  granted  to  Deacon 
Eliot  "to  set  out  his  barn  six  or  eight  feet  into  the 
street,  at  the  direction  of  Colonel  Colbron." 

On  the  17th  of  the  same  month,  October,  1636,  a 
street  and  lane  were  laid  out,  but  names  were  not 
given  to  them  in  the  record. 

In  May,  1708,  "  at  a  meeting  of  the  selectmen,"  a 
broad  highway  was  laid  out  from  the  old  fortifications 
at  the  Neck,  near  the  present  Dover  Street,  to  Deacon 
Eliot's  house  (near  Eliot  Street),  and  called  Orange 
Street,  and  money  was  appropriated  for  paving  it, 
"  provided  the  abutters  would  pave  each  side  of  the 
street."     A  hundred  years  after  this  time,  the  road 


68  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

over  Boston  Neck  to  Roxbury,  from  Waltham  Street 
to  Roxbury  line,  was  very  wide,  and  paved  only  in 
the  middle  portion,  so  that  the  travel  for  years  was 
chiefly  on  the  sides  of  the  street. 

In  naming  the  streets,  as  we  have  said,  there  were 
local,  personal,  and  national  considerations.  As  an 
illustration  of  the  latter  influence,  King  and  Queen 
Streets,  two  of  the  most  important  streets  of  the 
town,  are  well  remembered.  Possibly  before  these 
the  Puritan  names  of  Endicott,  Winthrop,  Eliot, 
Leverett,  and  others,  may  have  been  used.  The 
names  of  revolutionary  patriots  were  subsequently 
applied  to  streets,  as  Hancock,  Adams,  Warren, 
Franklin;  and  these  were  followed  by  national 
names,  as  Union,  Congress,  and  Federal.  There  was 
also  a  class  of  local  names,  as  North,  South,  Middle, 
Canal,  School,  Exchange,  Water,  Tremont,  Beacon, 
Margin,  Back,  Bridge,  Pond,  High,  and  Broad,  ap- 
plied at  different  times.  Then  there  were  Orange, 
Elm,  Chestnut,  Walnut,  Pine,  Cherry,  &c,  followed, 
it  may  be,  by  Sun  and  Moon,  Summer,  Winter,  and 
Spring.  Latterly  the  names  of  towns  in  the  State 
have  been  applied  to  the  streets  of  the  city;  among 
the  earliest  of  these  are  Salem,  Lynn,  Cambridge, 
Brighton ;  and  after  these,  Arlington,  Berkley, 
Clarendon,  Dartmouth,  and  many  others. 

LISTS   OF    STREETS,  COURTS,   ETC. 

In  1708,  a  list  of  the  names  of  streets,  places, 
lanes,  alleys,  &c,  in  Boston  proper,  was  prepared  by 
the  Selectmen;  and  in  this  list  there  were  at  that 
time  forty-four  (44)  streets  recorded ;  eighteen  (18) 


NAMES    OF   PLACES,    STREETS,    ETC.  69 

alleys ;  thirty- three  (83)  lanes ;  three  squares, 
Church  Square,  Dock  Square,  and  Clark  Square ; 
two  ways,  Old  Way  and  Ferry  Way ;  two  hills, 
Snow  Hill  and  Corn  Hill;  five  courts,  Half  Square 
Court,  Corn  Court,  Minot's  Court,  Sun  Court,  and 
Garden  Court ;  one  row,  Merchants'  Row ;  and  two 
markets,  Corn  Market  and  Fish  Market,  making  one 
hundred  and  ten  (110)  named  places  in  the  town, 
in  May,  1708. 

In  1732,  there  was  published  in  "  Vade  Mecum," 
a  list  of  streets  at  that  time,  and  in  this  list  are  four- 
teen not  in  that  of  1708,  making  the  number  of 
streets  sixty,  lanes  forty-one,  alleys  eighteen,  mak- 
ing in  all  one  hundred  and  nineteen  (119),  exclusive 
of  squares,  courts,  &c. 

In  1817,  including  lanes,  alleys,  squares,  and 
streets,  there  were  231  in  Boston  proper,  and  among 
them  were  Berry  and  Blossom,  Chestnut  and  Wal- 
nut, Poplar  and  Elm,  Myrtle  and  Vine,  and  others. 
There  were  at  this  time,  thirty-four  wharves.  There 
are  now  probably  five  times  as  many  streets  in  Bos- 
ton proper  as  there  were  in  1732,  a  hundred  years 
after  the  settlement  of  the  town,  without  reckoning 
courts  or  squares. 

In  1817,  Shaw  enumerates  229  streets,  lanes,  &c, 
and  after  this  time  much  attention  was  given  to  the 
subject  of  new  streets,  naming  old  ones  not  before 
accepted,  &c,  and  some  of  the  names  were  changed. 

In  1879,  a  complete  list  of  the  names  of  streets, 
avenues,  places,  courts,  squares,  corners,  &c,  that 
have  ever  been  in  use,  or  applied,  was  prepared  by 
order  of  the  city  government,  and  has  been  printed. 


70  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

This  list,  of  course,  shows  a  surprising  increase  in 
the  number  of  names  over  any  former  record,  many 
of  which,  we  presume,  have  never  before  been  re- 
corded, although  they  may  have  been  to  some  extent 
in  use.  In  this  list  nearly  two  thousand  names 
(1795)  are  printed  :  of  these  554  are  streets,  of  which 
some  are  duplicates.  Many  of  them  are  second  or 
third  names,  all  of  which  are  recorded,  so  that  the 
list  does  not  represent  the  number  of  streets  at  pres- 
ent in  the  city  proper,  but  simply  the  names  that 
have  heretofore  been  used,  or  are  now  applied  to 
them. 

NAMES   OF   TAVERNS. 

Taverns  were  early  mentioned  by  names,  more  or 
less  personal  and  peculiar :  one  of  the  first  men- 
tioned is  the  State  Arms,  where  the  magistrates 
usually  dieted  and  drank,  in  King  Street,  1653;  Ship 
Tavern,  in  Ann  Street,  1GG6 ;  Bunch  of  Grapes,  in 
King  Street,  1724 ;  King's  Head  Tavern,  near  Fleet 
Street,  1755;  Queen's  Head,  in  Lynn  Street,  1732; 
Ship  in  Distress,  an  ancient  tavern,  opposite  Moon 
Street;  and  if  the  "ordinaries,"  spoken  of  by  Cot- 
ton Mather,  were  taverns,  they  were  very  numerous 
and  were  known  as  ale-houses,  or,  as  Mather  says, 
"  hell-houses." 

BUSINESS   NAMES. 

There  were  numerous  curious  names  in  use  among 
the  tradespeople,  as  the  Six  Sugar-Loaves,  probably 
a  grocer,  in  Union  Street,  1733;  Three  Sugar-Loaves 
and   Canister,   grocer,   in   King   Street,   1733 ;    two 


NAMES    OF   PLACES,    STREETS,    ETC.  71 

bearing  the  sign  of  Two  Sugar-Loaves,  one  in  Corn- 
hill  and  the  other  in  King  Street,  1760,  —  all  of  these 
indicating  some  active  competition  in  the  sugar 
trade.  Noah's  Ark  was  the  sign  of  a  dry-goods 
store  in  Marlborough  Street,  1769.  There  were 
signs  of  the  Three  Crowns,  Three  Doves,  Three 
Horseshoes,  Three  Kings,  and  Three  Nuns  and  a 
Comb.  Another  class  embraced  the  Bible  and 
Heart,  afterwards  Heart  and  Crown,  corner  of  Corn- 
hill  and  Water  Streets,  1748;  Blue  Dog  and  Rain- 
bowT,  sign  of  a  dyer  near  Bowling  Green,  now  Cam- 
bridge Street,  1729;  Blue  Glove,  a  bookstore  on 
Union  Street,  1762 ;  Brazen  Head,  Cornhill,  opposite 
Williams  Court,  where  the  great  fire  of  1760  com- 
menced, in  a  dwelling-house  occupied  by  Mrs.  Mary 
Jackson  and  son,  probably  a  boarding-house  :  Buck 
and  Breeches  in  Ann  Street,  1758,  near  the  Draw 
Bridge,  Joseph  Belknap's  sign ;  Golden  Cock,  in 
Ann  Street,  1733;  Golden  Eagle,  Dock  Square, 
1758;  and  one  of  the  last  things  named  was  the 
Whipping  Post,  in  King  Street,  removed  in  1750, 
only  twenty  years  before  the  Boston  Massacre. 

NAMES   OF   PERSONS. 

In  regard  to  the  names  of  persons,  as  well  as  places 
and  things,  it  is  said  that  there  was  "  a  prejudice  in 
favor  of  the  Israelitish  custom,  and  a  fondness  arose, 
or  at  least  was  increased,  for  significant  names  for 
children."  "  The  three  first  that  were  baptized  in 
Boston  church  were  Joy,  Recompence  and  Pity. 
The  humor  spread.  The  town  of  Dorchester,  in  par- 
ticular, was  remarkable  for  such   names   as   Faith, 


72  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

Hope,  Charity,  Deliverance,  Dependance,  Preserved, 
Content,  Prudent,  Patience,  Thankful,  Hate-evil, 
Holdfast,''  &c.  These  are  prett}^  much  out  of  fash- 
ion: possibly  the  name  of  "Prudence"  may  yet  be 
found.  It  is  somewhat  strange  that  this  "  prejudice  " 
did  not  get  a  more  public  expression :  perhaps  Salu- 
tation Alley  may  be  a  relic  of  it. 


The  Hangman's  Gallows,  strange  to  say,  was  a 
permanent  structure  on  the  Neck,  on  the  east  side 
and  somewhat  in  the  rear  of  the  burying-ground: 
the  pirates  were  hung  there  as  late  as  1815.  The 
following  peculiar  historical  names,  although  well 
known,  may  be  mentioned :  Liberty  Pole  was  in 
Liberty  Square,  at  the  point  of  meeting  of  Water 
and  Kilby  Streets.  It  was  not  restored  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Liberty  Tree,  corner  of  New- 
bury (now  Washington)  and  Essex  Streets,  nearly 
opposite  Boylston  Market.  It  was  cut  down  by  the 
British  in  August,  1775.  Green  Dragon  was  the 
sign  of  a  noted  tavern  in  Union  Street,  licensed  in 
1697,  and  disappeared  1854.  The  building  which 
now  occupies  the  spot  in  Union  Street,  displays  the 
Green  Dragon  on  its  front.  The  "  Orange  Tree " 
spoken  of  in  the  history  of  Boston,  was  on  Hanover 
Street.  A  private  school  is  spoken  of  as  being  in 
Hanover  Street,  "three  doors  below  the  Orange 
Tree,"  and  an  earlier  writer  speaks  of  it  as  on  Queen 
(Court)  Street.  It  was  a  tavern  on  or  near  the  cor- 
ner of  these  streets,  probably  on  the  site  afterwards 
occupied  by  Concert  Hall. 


NAMES   OF   PLACES,    STEEETS,    ETC.  73 

Boston,  at  the  present  time,  includes  South  Boston 
(formerly  Dorchester),  East  Boston  (formerly  Nod- 
dle's Island),  Dorchester,  Roxbury,  West  Roxbury, 
and  Charlestown,  and  within  this  territory  there  are 
now  over  2,650  streets,  squares,  avenues,  places, 
courts,  &c,  and  225  wharves,  twenty-nine  of  which 
are  in  Charlestown  District.  Public  halls  in  Boston, 
119,  and  the  number  of  these  is  increasing.  In  1735, 
there  were  twelve  wards  in  the  town ;  revised  in 
1805,  and  now,  including  the  annexations  above 
named,  there  are  twenty-five  wards. 


VII. 
PERSECUTION   OF   THE   QUAKERS. 


Notwithstanding  the  strange  judgments,  fines, 
and  punishments,  made  under  the  civil  law  or  with- 
out law  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  there  seems 
to  have  been  another  sort  of  government,  or  perhaps 
one  of  the  same  kind,  in  relation  to  spiritual  or  re- 
ligious things,  the  administration  of  which  shows  such 
a  spirit  and  system  of  persecution,  and  such  a  degree 
of  fanaticism,  as  can  hardly  be  paralleled  in  history. 
And  it  would  seem  also  that  the  two  kinds  of  gov- 
ernment, both  in  the  hands  of  the  same  parties, 
might  occasionally  be  found  in  conflict.  In  1655, 
Hutchinson  says,  "  However  inconsistent  it  may 
seem  with  the  professed  ecclesiastical  constitution 
and  the  freedom  of  every  church,  the  general  court, 
in  several  instances,  interposed  its  authority.  They 
laid  a  large  fine  upon  the  church  at  Maiden  for 
choosing  a  minister  without  the  consent  and  appro- 
bation of  the  neighboring  churches  and  allowance  of 
the  magistrates,  and  there  were  other  similar  inter- 
ferences, which,  we  suppose,  were  acceded  to,  and 
that  the  church  was,  in  fact,  under  the  control  of  the 
state."  And  the  state,  it  may  be  added,  was  to  some 
extent,  subordinate  to  the  church. 

74 


PERSECUTION   OF   THE   QUAKERS.  75 

The  Episcopalians,  Anabaptists,  Baptists,  and 
Quakers,  were  all  treated,  or  maltreated,  with  the 
same  spirit,  though  not  proceeded  against  with  the 
same  degree  of  persistency  and  malice.  The  Episco- 
palians were  mulcted  in  heavy  fines  "  for  contemptu- 
ous and  seditious  language,"  but  finally  overcame  all 
difficulties,  and  became  permanently  established  in 
1686,  and  built  a  church  in  1688.  The  Baptists  were 
persecuted  in  a  similar  way,  but  finally  got  a  meet- 
ing-house built  in  1679,  before  the  Episcopalians. 
The  Quakers  were  persecuted  from  the  first  landing 
of  some  of  their  number  in  1656  to  1667,  and  even 
later ;  and  four  of  them  were  hanged  on  Boston  Com- 
mon. 

In  July,  1656,  two  Quakers,  both  women,  arrived 
at  the  settlement  from  Barbadoes,  and  soon  after 
eight  more  came  from  England.  In  a  few  dajs  they 
were  ordered  before  the  Court  of  Assistants.  Some 
books  were  found  about  them  or  in  their  possession, 
amounting  to  a  hundred  volumes ;  and  these  were 
burned  in  the  market-place,  and  their  owners  sent  to 
prison.  They  were  condemned  as  Quakers,  kept  in 
confinement  several  weeks,  and  then  sent  away ;  and 
yet  it  is  said  there  was  no  law  at  this  time  against 
Quakers.  After  this,  stringent  laws  were  made  to 
keep  them  out  of  the  colony.  Masters  of  vessels 
were  subjected  to  one  hundred  pounds  fine  if  they 
brought  a  Quaker  into  the  colony,  and  required  to 
give  security  to  take  him  away;  and,  if  a  Quaker 
came  into  the  jurisdiction,  he  was  sent  to  the  house 
of  correction,  and  whipped  twenty  stripes.  And  the 
next  year,  further  laws  were  made  against  the  Qua- 


76  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

kers,  and  against  all  who  befriended  or  entertained 
them :  who  were  to  be  fined  forty  shillings  an  hour ; 
and,  "  if  he  persisted,  the  offender  was  to  have  one 
of  his  ears  cut  off,"  and,  if  repeated,  he  was  to  lose 
his  other  ear.  If  this  did  not  answer,  whipping  and 
boring  the  tongue  with  a  hot  iron,  were  to  be  the 
consequences. 

Notwithstanding  these  severe  proceedings  against 
the  Quakers,  others  came  into  the  colony,  and  some 
who  had  been  banished  returned  to  suffer  more 
severe  punishments.  One  Myra  Clark,  wife  of  a 
merchant  tailor  of  London,  came  to  Boston  in  1657, 
to  comply  with  what  she  conceived  to  be  a  spiritual 
command,  and  was  whipped  in  a  cruel  manner. 
About  the  same  time,  two  men,  Christopher  Holder 
and  John  Copeland,  were  seized  in  Salem,  and,  after 
being  roughlv  handled,  were  "  had  to  Boston." 
Holder,  it  is  said,  when  he  attempted  to  speak,  had 
his  head  hauled  back  by  the  hair,  and  his  mouth 
stuffed  with  handkerchief  and  gloves.  At  Boston 
they  were  whipped  with  a  knotted  whip,  with  all  the 
strength  of  the  hangman.  A  man  named  Shattock 
was  imprisoned  and  whipped  for  interfering  when 
Holder  was  gagged,  and  was  afterwards  banished. 

In  the  next  year,  (September,  1658),  Holder,  Cope- 
land,  and  another  young  man  named  Rouse,  had 
their  right  ears  cut  off  in  the  prison.  A  number  of 
women  were  whipped  and  imprisoned  ;  and  one, 
Katharine  Scott  of  Providence,  being  in  Boston,  pro- 
nounced the  above  punishment  in  prison,  "a  work 
of  darkness,"  and  was  therefore  shamefully  treated 
and  abused,  although  a  mother  of  children,  and  "  a 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE   QUAKERS.  77 

grave,  sober,  ancient  woman."  She  was  publicly 
whipped,  and  threatened  with  hanging  if  found  in 
Boston  again. 

Three  persons  known  as  Quakers,  on  their  way 
from  Salem  to  Rhode  Island,  to  provide  a  place  for 
themselves  and  families,  were  arrested  hy  the  con- 
stable at  Dedham,  and  sent  to  Boston,  where  Gov. 
Endicott  set  them  at  liberty,  but  fined  them  twelve 
shillings,  as  it  would  seem  for  the  stupidity  of  the 
constable.  The  constable,  no  doubt,  arrested  them 
for  fear  of  being  fined  for  neglect  of  duty. 

In  1658-59,  persecutions  continued  fearfully,  and 
numbers  were  arrested,  imprisoned,  and  punished. 
In  the  latter  year,  William  Robinson,  formerly  a 
London  merchant,  Marmaduke  Stevenson,  and  Myra 
(or  Mary)  Dyar,  having  returned  after  banishment, 
were  sentenced  to  be  hung ;  and  the  two  men  were 
hung,  Oct.  20.  Myra  Dyar  was  upon  the  ladder, 
her  arms  and  legs  tied,  and  the  rope  about  her  neck, 
when,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  her  son,  she  was 
spared  and  sent  out  of  the  colony ;  but  she  returned 
again  the  next  year,  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
her  death  was  necessary  to  the  cause  she  had  es- 
poused,—  as  fanatical  as  were  the  Puritans  them- 
selves, —  and  was  hung  in  June.  The  bodies  of  the 
men,  it  is  said,  were  shamefully  stripped  and  abused, 
after  they  were  literally  cut  down,  and  were  thrown 
into  a  hole  together. 

In  July,  1660,  Margaret  Brewster,  from  Barbadoes, 
and  two  or  three  other  women,  made  an  incursion 
into  the  Old  South  Church ;  she  appeared  "  in  sack- 
cloth, with  ashes  on  her  head,  barefoot  and  her  face 


78  CURIOSITIES   OF  HISTORY. 

blackened,"  with  some  purpose  of  warning  the  people 
against  the  black  pox,  "if  they  put  in  practice  a 
cruel  law  against  swearing." 

It  is  said  also  "  that  Deborah  Wilson  went  through 
the  streets  of  Salem  naked  as  she  came  into  the 
world,  for  which  she  was  well  whipped."  Thomas 
Newhouse  went  into  a  meeting-house  in  Boston,  and 
smashed  two  empty  bottles  together,  with  a  threat  to 
the  people ;  and,  no  doubt,  other  provoking  things 
were  done. 

In  March,  1G61,  persecutions  still  prevailing,  Wil- 
liam Leddra,  who  came  from  Barbadoes,  was  arrested, 
together  with  one  William  Brend ;  and  Drake  says, 
"  The  cruelties  perpetrated  on  these  poor,  misguided 
men  are  altogether  of  a  character  too  horrid  to  be 
related."  It  is  said  that  Leddra  would  not  accept 
life  on  any  terms,  and  was  therefore  hung  on  the 
14th  of  March ;  and  Capt.  Johnson,  who  led  him 
forth  to  the  gallows,  was  afterwards  taken  "  with  a 
distemper  which  deprived  him  of  his  reason  and 
understanding  as  a  man." 

These  proceedings,  outrageous  as  they  certainly 
were,  led  to  a  movement  in  England  by  the  Quakers 
and  their  friends,  which  resulted  in  an  order  from  the 
King,  Sept.  9,  1661,  requiring  that  a  stop  should  be 
put  to  all  capital  or  corporal  punishments.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  words  of  this  remarkable  document :  — 

"  Charles  R. 

"  Trusty  and  well  beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  Having  been 
informed  that  several  of  our  subjects  amongst  you,  called 
Quakers,  have  been  and  are  imprisoned  by  you,  whereof  some 
have  been  executed,  and  others  (as  hath  been  represented  unto 


PERSECUTION"   OF   THE   QUAKERS.  79 

us)  are  in  danger  to  undergo  the  like:  We  have  thought  fit  to 
signify  our  pleasure  in  that  behalf  for  the  future,  and  do  hereby 
require,  that  if  there  be  any  of  those  people  now  amongst  you, 
now  already  condemned  to  suffer  death  or  other  corporal  punish- 
ment, or  that  are  imprisoned,  and  obnoxious  to  the  like  con- 
demnation, you  are  to  forbear  to  proceed  any  further  therein, 
but  that  you  forthwith  send  the  said  persons,  whether  con- 
demned or  imprisoned,  over  into  this  Our  Kingdom  of  England, 
together  with  the  respective  crimes  or  offenses  laid  to  their 
charge,  to  the  end  such  course  may  be  taken  with  them  here  as 
shall  be  agreeable  to  our  laws  and  their  demerits ;  and  for  so 
doing  these  our  letters  shall  be  your  sufficient  warrant  and 
discharge. 

"  Given  at  Our  Court  at  Whitehall  the  ninth  da*  of  Sept., 
1661,  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Our  Reign. 

"  To  Our  trusty  and  well-beloved  John  Endicott,  Esquire,  &c. 
"  By  his  Majesty's  Command, 

"  William  Morris." 

The  bearer  of  this  mandate  from  the  King  was  one 
of  the  banished  Quakers,  formerly  of  Salem ;  and 
when  he  appeared  at  Gov.  Endicott's  house,  on 
Pemberton  Square,  was  admitted  to  the  presence, 
and  ordered  to  take  his  hat  off ;  and  on  receiving  the 
mandamus  the  Governor  took  his  own  hat  off  (which 
he  probably  put  on  to  receive  his  callers).  After 
reading  the  document,  he  went  out  and  bade  the  two 
Friends  to  follow  him,  and  proceeded  to  consult,  as  it 
appeared,  with  Lieut.-Gov.  Willoughby  (not  Belling- 
ham,  as  some  writers  have  it).  His  answer  was, 
"  We  shall  obey  his  majesty's  command."  So  far  as 
hanging  was  forbidden,  the  command  was  obeyed. 
The  formality  of  sending  Commissioners  to  England 
to  defend  and  justify  the  measures  of  the  colony  was 
adopted,  but  never  amounted  to  any  thing. 


80  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

The  laws  against  the  Quakers  were  afterwards 
revived  to  the  extent  of  whipping,  limited  to 
"  through  three  towns  only ;  "  and  perhaps  they  did 
not  choose  to  regard  this  display  as  "  capital  or 
corporal  punishment." 

In  May,  1664,  Edward  Wharton,  of  Salem,  being 
in  Boston,  a  Quaker  meeting  was  held,  when  a  war- 
rant was  issued  for  his  arrest:  but  the  meeting  being 
over,  he  was  found  at  a  friend's  house  ;  was  arrested ; 
the  next  day  whipped,  and  sent  to  the  constable  at 
Lynn,  to  be  whipped  there,  and  then  sent  to  Salem. 
In  one  instance,  a  girl,  eleven  years  of  age,  allowing 
herself  to  be  a  Quaker,  whether  she  knew  what  the 
word  meant  or  not,  was  sent  to  prison,  and  after- 
wards brought  before  the  great  and  dignified  Court. 
The  Court  speak  of  "the  malice  of  Satan  and  his 
instruments,"  and  determine  that  as  "  Satan  is  put 
to  his  shifts  to  make  use  of  such  a  child,  not  being  of 
the  years  of  discretion,  it  is  judged  meet  so  far  to 
slight  her  as  a  Quaker,  as  only  to  admonish  and 
instruct  her  according  to  her  capacity,  and  so  dis- 
charge her."  Hutchinson  says,  "  It  would  have  been 
horrible,  if  there  had  been  any  further  severity." 

In  1665,  additional  laws  were  made,  or  orders 
passed,  levying  a  fine  of  ten  shillings  for  attending  a 
Quaker  meeting,  and  five  pounds  for  speaking  at  one  ; 
and,  in  the  same  year,  the  penalty  of  death  was 
revived  against  all  Quakers  who  should  return  to 
the  colony  after  they  had  been  banished.  Some  per- 
sons ventured  to  express  their  dissent  with  regard  to 
some  of  these  laws,  and,  probably  owing  to  their 
respectability,   escaped   punishment ;    but    Nicholas 


PERSECUTION   OF   THE   QUAKERS.  81 

Upsall,  who  had  shown  compassion  to  some  Quakers 
while  in  prison,  in  1656-57,  was  fined  and  banished, 
and  endured  incredible  hardships.  Three  years  later, 
in  1660,  he  returned,  and  was  again  thrown  into 
prison,  and  died  in  1666. 

The  laws  against  Quakers  and  heretics  were  pub- 
lished in  Boston  "  with  beat  of  drum  through  its 
streets."  We  presume  they  were  read  after  the 
town-crier  fashion  of  later  days. 

In  1677,  when  the  toleration  of  the  Quakers  was 
thought  to  be  one  of  the  sins  which  brought  on  the 
Indian  war,  as  a  punishment,  the  Court  ordered, 
u  That  every  person  found  at  a  Quaker's  meeting 
shall  be  apprehended  ex  officio,  by  the  constable,  and, 
by  warrant  from  a  magistrate  or  commissioner,  shall 
be  committed  to  the  House  of  Correction,  and  there 
have  the  discipline  of  the  house  applied  to  them,  and 
be  kept  to  work,  with  bread  and  water,  for  three 
days,  and  then  released,  or  else  shall  pay  five  pounds 
in  money,  as  a  fine  to  the  country,  for  such  offence, 
and  all  constables  neglecting  their  duty,  in  not  faith- 
fully executing  this  order,  shall  incur  the  penalty  of 
five  pounds,  upon  conviction,  one  third  thereof  to 
the  informer." 

Upon  this  remarkable  order,  Hutchinson  declares, 
"  I  know  of  nothing  which  can  be  urged  as  in  any- 
wise tending  to  excuse  the  severity  of  this  law, 
unless  it  be  human  infirmity,"  and,  he  adds,  the  prac- 
tices of  other  religious  sects  who  are  persuaded  that 
the  indulgence  of  any  other  "was  a  toleration  of 
impiety  "  and  brought  down  the  judgments  of  heaven. 
This  law  cost  the  colcny  many  friends. 


82  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 

Soon  after  this  a  party  was  arrested  and  "whipped 
at  the  cart's  tail  up  and  down  the  town  with  twenty 
lashes."  On  the  same  day,  fourteen  Quakers  were 
arrested  at  a  meeting,  and  twelve  of  them  whipped : 
the  other  two  had  their  fines  paid  by  their  friends. 
At  the  next  meeting,  fourteen  or  fifteen  more,  includ- 
ing some  strangers,  were  arrested  and  whipped.  And 
yet  the  Quakers  continued  their  meetings;  and, 
finally,  one  of  them  was  so  large,  that,  as  it  is  said, 
"feariulness  surprised  the  hypocrites,"  and  the  meet- 
ing was  not  molested.1 

Hutchinson  says,  "Notwithstanding  the  great 
variety  of  sectaries  in  England,  there  had  been  no 
divisions  of  any.  consequence  in  the  Massachusetts; 
but  from  1637  to  1656,  they  enjoyed,  in  general, 
great  quietness  in  their  ecclesiastical  affairs,  discords 
in  particular  churches  being  healed  and  made  up  by 
a  submission  to  the  arbitrament  of  neighboring 
churches,  and  sometimes  the  interposition  of  the 
civil  power."  But  soon  after  all  this,  commencing 
indeed  in  1655,  in  New  England,  continues  Hutch- 
inson, "it  must  be  confessed,  that  bigotry  and  cruel 
zeal  prevailed,  and  to  that  degree  that  no  opinions 
but  their  own  could  be  tolerated.  They  were  sin- 
cere but  mistaken  in  their  principles;  and  absurd  as 
it  is,  it  is  too  evident,  they  believed  it  to  be  for  the 
glory  of  God  to  take  away  the  lives  of  his  creatures 
for  maintaining  tenets   contrary  to  what  they  pro- 

1  In  1693,  an  eminent  Quaker  visited  Boston,  and  afterwards 
wrote  an  account  of  his  visit.  He  says,  being  a  stranger  and 
traveller,  he  could  not  but  observe  the  barbarous  and  unchristian 
welcome  he  had  into  Boston.  "  Oh,  what  a  pity  it  was,"  said  one, 
"  that  all  your  society  were  not  hanged  with  the  other  four!" 


PERSECUTION   OF   THE   QUAKERS.  83 

fessed  themselves."  It  is  said,  however,  "  that  every 
religion  which  is  persecuted  becomes  itself  persecut- 
ing ;  for  as  soon  as,  by  some  accidental  turn,  it  arises 
from  persecution,  it  attacks  the  religion  which  perse- 
cuted it."  Perhaps  the  Puritans  thought  they  had 
been  persecuted ! 

It  seems  to  be  understood  that  the  Quakers  finally 
got  a  standing  in  Boston,  and  a  meeting-house,  as,  in 
1667,  mention  is  made  of  their  "ordinary  place  of 
meeting,"  though  their  numbers  were  small.  The 
Baptists,  however,  did  not  get  their  meeting-house 
until  1679;  and  then,  as  a  law  had  been  passed 
against  the  building  of  meeting-houses  without  per- 
mission of  the  county  courts,  theirs  was  built  as  a 
private  house,  and  afterwards  purchased  by  them. 
But  Drake  says,  "  The  times  had  become  so  much 
changed  that  such  a  law  could  not  be  very  well  en- 
forced." By  this  time,  also,  the  matter  was  again 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  king,  Charles  II. ;  and 
he  wrote,  on  July  24,  to  the  authorities  of  Boston, 
"  requiring  them  not  to  molest  people  in  their  wor- 
ship, who  were  of  the  Protestant  faith,  and  directing 
that  liberty  of  conscience  should  be  extended  to  all 
such."  This  letter,  it  is  said,  had  some  effect  on  the 
rulers,  although  they  regarded  it  as  an  interference 
with  their  chartered  rights ;  and,  after  all,  it  was 
rather  a  development  of  that  common  sense  which 
fanaticism  and  bigotry  had  so  long  obscured,  possi- 
bly awakened  by  the  order  of  the  king,  rather  than 
controlled  by  it,  that  brought  about  the  change  in 
the  spirit  of  persecution. 

In  1737,  a  different  Christian  spirit  was  manifested 


84  CURIOSITIES   OF  HISTORY. 

towards  the  Quakers,  and  they  were  exempted  from 
taxes  for  the  support  of  the  clergy,  provided  they 
attended  their  own  meetings.  A  letter  from  a 
Quaker  to  the  King  gives  the  following  statement 
of  the  punishments  and  penalties  received  by  his 
brethren  :  "  Twenty-two  have  been  banished  on  pain 
of  death,  three  have  been  martyred,  three  have  had 
their  right  ears  cut,  one  hath  been  burned  in  the 
hand  with  the  letter  II,  thirty-one  persons  have 
received  six  hundred  and  fifty  stripes,  ....  one 
thousand  and  forty-four  pounds  worth  of  goods 
have  been  taken  from  them,  and  one  lieth  now  in 
fetters,  condemned  to  die."  The  letter  H  was  prob- 
ably intended  for  "heretic,"  which  would  certainly 
be  giving  a  judgment  against  the  religion  the  Quakers 
professed. 

In  1694,  the  Quakers  owned  a  lot  on  Brattle 
Street,  and  it  is  thought  probable  had  some  sort  of  a 
meeting-house  upon  it;  but  still  the  years  passed  on, 
we  hardly  know  how,  until  1708,  when  they  desired 
to  build  a  brick  house,  but  could  not  get  permission 
to  do  so.  Afterwards  they  built  a' small  brick  meet- 
ing-house in  the  rear  of  Congress  Street  on  one  side, 
and  in  the  rear  of  Water  Street  on  the  other.  It 
ran  back  to  what  is  now  the  line  of  Exchange  Place ; 
in  fact,,  was  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  square  formed 
by  State,  Congress,  Water,  and  Devonshire  Streets. 
This  building  was  partly  destroj'ed  by  fire  in  1760, 
having  been  standing  more  than  fifty  years  ;  was 
then  repaired,  and  finally  demolished  in  1825,  having 
been  unoccupied  for  nearly  twenty  years,  the  society, 
in  1808,  having  voted  to  discontinue  their  meetings. 


PERSECUTION   OF   THE   QUAKERS.  85 

It  is  probably  true  that  the  treatment  of  the 
Quakers  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  in  the  years 
mentioned,  from  1660  to  1666-67,  is  unparalleled  in 
the  history  of  the  human  race;  and  although  it  may 
be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  the  people  here  exiled 
themselves  in  order  that  "  they  might  maintain  and 
perpetuate  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  principles 
of  true  Christianity,"  they  manifested  but  little  of 
the  spirit  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind  or  the  religion 
he  came  to  teach.  Hutchinson  concludes  what  he 
has  to  say  of  the  remarkable  persecution  of  the 
Quakers  and  its  severity,  with  the  remark,  "  May 
the  time  never  come  again,  when  the  government 
shall  think  that  by  killing  men  for  their  religion  they 
do  God  good  service."  However  other  denomina- 
tions of  Christians  were  persecuted  by  the  Puritans, 
only  Quakers  and  witches  were  hung.  "  These  tran- 
sient persecutions,"  as  Bancroft  calls  them,  with  all 
the  leniency  possible,  "  begun  in  self-defence,  were 
yet  no  more  than  a  train  of  mists  hovering  of  an 
autumn  morning  over  the  channel  of  a  fine  river,  that 
diffused  freshness  and  fertility  wherever  it  wound." 
Much  of  this  condition  of  things,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, resulted  from  natural  causes ;  namely,  the 
character  and  circumstances  of  the  settlers,  their  pe- 
culiar religious  belief,  and  absolute  fanaticism. 

Finally,  another  writer  says,  "  The  Puritans  dis- 
claimed the  right  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  opinions 
of  others.  They  denied  that  they  persecuted  for 
conscience  sake."  These  and  some  other  statements 
seem  to  show  that  they  did  not  practise  as  they 
preached,  or  gave  an  interpretation  to  that  practice 


86  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

not  in  accordance  with  the  understanding  and  con- 
victions of  mankind.  To  be  sure,  they  had  a  law  to 
punish  any  one  who  spoke  disrespectfully  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  at  the  same  time  fined,  punished, 
banished,  and  hung  those  who  entertained  and  pre- 
sumed to  teach  principles,  belief,  or  doctrines  in 
relation  to  the  Scriptures  different  from  their  own ; 
not,  as  they  allege,  because  they  had  the  right  to  sit 
in  judgment  upon  them,  but  because  of  the  clangers 
of  their  teaching  and  practice :  in  other  words,  for 
their  own  protection,  "  self-defence,"  as  has  been  said. 
Nevertheless,  maiming,  marring,  and  taking  the  lives 
of  God's  creatures,  the  equals  in  every  respect  of  them- 
selves, as  Hutchinson  puts  it,  is  only  to  be  apologized 
for  or  excused  by  the  infirmities  of  humanity;  in- 
deed, we  should  rather  say,  is  not  to  be  excused  on  any 
such  ground,  and  their  own  doctrine  and  belief  teaches 
that  it  was  a  proceeding  to  be  punished  and  repented 
of.  This,  at  any  rate,  was  always  the  belief  of  the 
Quakers.  Drake  says,  "  The  persecuted  Quakers  were 
fully  persuaded  that  a  day  of  wrath  would  overtake 
New  England,  and  they  did  not  fail  to  declare  their 
belief;  and,  indeed,  it  was  not  long  before  their  pre- 
dictions were  fulfilled :  for  the  terrible  war  with  the 
Indians,  which  followed  in  a  few  years,  was  viewed 
by  them  as  the  vengeance  of  heaven  for  their  cruelty 
to  the  Quakers." 


VIII. 
PIEST   NEWSPAPER   IN    AMERICA. 


It  is  said  that  the  first  newspaper  ever  issued  was 
at  Venice  in  1583,1  called  "  The  Gazette,"  —  and  this 
was  in  manuscript,  —  unless  (as  has  been  reported) 
there  was  an  older  paper  of  some  kind  issued  at 
Hong-Kong.  The  oldest  printed  newspaper,  "  The 
English  Mercury,"  was  issued  in  England  in  1588,2 
but,  it  is  believed,  was  not  regularly  published.  In 
the  next  century,  from  1624  onward,  newspapers 
multiplied  ;  and  among  them  were  "  The  Parliament 
Kite,"  and  "The  Secret  Owl,"  and  some  other  curi- 
ous names.  Towards  the  close  of  this  century,  the 
first  American  newspaper  appeared;  and  possibly  this 
had  been  preceded  by  what  represented  a  newspaper, 
in  manuscript,  as  was  the  case  afterwards  in  Boston 
in  1704,  when  "  The  News-Letter "  first  appeared. 
The  first  American  newspaper  was  issued  in  Boston  in 
1690,  —  only  fifty  or  sixty  years  after  newspapers  be- 
came common  in  England, — if  the  statements  which 
we  have  quoted  are  reliable.  But  at  this  time,  as 
might  be  reasonably  supposed,  the  people  who  came 
to  this  country  in  order  to  improve   their  liberties, 

1  Faust  invented  printing,  1450. 

2  Printing  introduced  into  England,  1571. 

87 


88  CUBIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

were  not  prepared  for  a  free  press,  or,  one  might 
almost  say,  for  any  thing  that  did  not  tally  with 
their  religious  notions  and  vague  superstitions;  so 
that,  after  the  first  issue,  Sept.  25,  1690,  the  paper 
was  suppressed,  as  said,  by  the  ''legislative  authori- 
ties." Still  it  was  a  newspaper,  intended  to  be  such, 
and  intended  to  be  regularly  issued  once  a  month, 
or  oftener,  if  occasion  required. 
It  was  entitled  as  follows  :  — 

"  Numb.  1.  Publick 

OCCURRENCES, 

Both  Foreign  and  Domestic. 
Boston,  Thursday,  Sept.  25,  1690." 

It  was  "printed  by  R.  Pierce,  for  Benjamin  Harris, 
at  the  London  Coffee  House,  1690."  And  it  would 
seem  that  most  of  the  copies  were  destroyed,  though 
probably  not  many  were  printed,  as  only  one  copy 
has  ever  been  found,  and  that  by  some  unknown 
chance  got  into  the  colonial  state-paper  office,  in 
London.  It  is  a  small  sheet  of  paper  doubled,  print- 
ed on  three  pages,  two  columns  to  each ;  and  some 
years  ago,  after  a  good  deal  of  trouble  to  find  the 
copy  in  the  London  office,  the  contents  of  the  whole 
sheet  were  copied  by  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  of  Bos- 
ton, and  have  since  been  once  or  twice  reprinted. 

It  is  said  that  it  was  stopped  by  the  "legislative 
authorities,"  who  described  it  as  a  "  pamphlet,"  and 
as  containing  "  reflections  of  a  very  high  nature  ; " 
and  the  order  of  the  Court,  passed  in  1662  forbade 
"any  thing  in  print  without  license  first  obtained 
from  those  appointed  by  the  government   to   grant 


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FIRST   NEWSPAPER   IN   AMERICA.  89 

the  same : "  so  that  it  would  seem  that  there  was  a 
law  against  printing  any  thing  without  a  license,  and 
that  this  sheet,  called  a  pamphlet,  came  within  its 
provisions.  "In  1644,  It  is  ordered  that  the  Printers 
shall  have  leave  to  print  the  Election  Sermon  with 
Mr.  Mather's  consent,  and  the  Artillery's  with  Mr. 
Norton's  consent."  This,  of  course,  meant  without 
their  undergoing  any  inspection. 

With  respect  to  the  contents  of  this  first  news- 
paper, the  introductory  paragraph  is  as  follows:  — 

"  It  is  designed  that  the  countrejj  shall  be  furnished  once  a  month 
(or  if  any  Glut  of  Occurrences  liappen  oflener,)  with  an  Account  of 
such  considerable  things  as  have  arrived  unto  our  Notice." 

The  editor,  it  is  said,  will  take  pains  to  get  a  faith- 
ful relation  of  things,  and  hopes  observers  will  com- 
municate of  such  matters  as  fall  under  their  notice; 
and  then  states  what  is  proposed  in  an  editorial  way  : 
first,  that  memorable  occurrences  may  not  be  neg- 
lected or  forgotten ;  second,  that  people  may  better 
understand  public  affairs  ;  and  third,  "  that  something 
may  be  done  towards  the  Caring,  or  at  least  the  Charm- 
ing of  that  Spirit  of  Lying,  which  prevails  among  us," 
&c.  This,  probably,  is  one  of  the  passages  referred 
to  by  the  authorities  as  "  reflections  of  a  very  high 
nature."  And,  in  addition  to  what  has  been  said, 
44 the  Publisher  of  these  Occurrences"  proposes  to 
correct  false  reports,  and  expose  the  "  First  Raiser  " 
of  them,  and  thinks  "none  will  dislike  this  Proposal, 
but  such  as  intend  to  be  guilty  of  so  villainous  a 
Crime." 
Then  follows  the  news,  or  "  Occurrences."     Men- 


90  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

tion  is  made  of  a  thanksgiving  appointed  by  the 
Christian  Indians  of  Ptymouth ;  the  husbandmen 
find  no  want  of  hands,  "  which  is  looked  upon  as  a 
merciful  Providence,"  being  a  favorable  season ;  the 
Indians  have  stolen  two  children,  aged  nine  and 
eleven  }^ears,  from  Chelmsford ;  an  old  man  of 
Watertown  hung  himself  in  his  cow-house,  having 
lately  lost  his  wife,  and  thereupon  "  the  devil  took 
advantage  of  the  melancholy  which  he  thereupon 
fell  into."  Epidemical  fevers  and  agues  and  small- 
pox are  next  spoken  of:  of  small-pox,  three  hundred 
and  twenty  had  died  in  Boston,  and  "  children  were 
born  full  of  the  distemper."  A  large  fire  is  spoken 
of  near  the  Mill  Creek,  —  twenty  houses  burned ;  and 
on  the  16th  and  17th  of  this  instant  (September, 
1690),  a  fire  broke  out  near  the  South  Meeting-house, 
which  consumed  five  or  six  houses ;  a  young  man 
perished  in  the  flames,  and  one  of  the  best  printing- 
presses  was  lost.  Report  of  a  vessel  bound  to  Vir- 
ginia, put  into  Penobscot,  where  the  Indians  and 
French  butchered  the  master  and  most  of  the  crew. 

The  next  is  a  longer  article  in  relation  to  the  ex- 
pedition to  Canada  under  Gen.  Winthrop,  its  failure, 
and  a  variety  of  Indian  complications.  The  editor 
says,  "  'Tis  possible  we  have  not  so  exactly  related 
the  Circumstances  of  this  business,  but  the  Account 
is  as  near  exactness  as  any  that  could  be  had,  in  the 
midst  of  many  various  reports  about  it." 

Then  follows  an  account  of  the  massacre  of  a  body 
of  French  Indians  in  the  "  East  Country."  Two 
English  captives  escaped  at  Passamaquodcly,  and 
got  into  Portsmouth.     There  was  terrible  butchery 


FIRST   NEWSPAPER   IN   AMERICA.  91 

among  the  French,  Indians,  and  English  at  this  time. 
Following  this  is  some  news  from  Portsmouth  by  an 
arrival  from  Barbadoes ;  a  report  that  the  city  of 
Cork  had  proclaimed  King  William,  and  turned  their 
French  landlords  out  of  doors,  &c. ;  more  Indian 
troubles  at  Plymouth,  Saco,  &c,  &c.  Then  follows 
the  imprint  at  the  end,  as  already  quoted. 

Such  was  the  nature,  character,  and  contents  of 
the  first  paper  ever  published  in  America ;  and  Ave 
doubt  if  the  first  paper  printed  in  England,  more 
than  a  hundred  years  before,  exceeded  this  in  man- 
ner and  matter.  The  judgment  of  the  present  day 
would  be  that  it  was  a  veiy  good  paper  for  the 
time,  both  in  its  news  and  editorial  matter,  and  we 
fail  to  see  any  ground  of  offence  either  against  law 
or  religion.  Many  of  the  early  papers  published  in 
this  country,  after  the  failure  of  this  attempt,  are 
not  half  as  good  as  this  first  copy  of  "  Publick  Occur- 
rences." It  is  creditable  to  Benjamin  Harris,  and  its 
discontinuance  not  so  creditable  to  the  "  legislative 
authorities,"  who  either  made  or  perverted  a  law  for 
its  suppression.  But  the  idea  of  establishing  a  news- 
paper "that  something  may  be  done  towards  the 
Curing,  or  at  least  the  Charming  of  that  Spirit  of 
Lying,  which  prevails  among  us,"  is  very  peculiar. 

In  all  newspaper  nomenclature  it  is  hardly  possible 
to  find  a  more  appropriate  name  than  that  selected 
for  this  first  newspaper  of  America.  We  now  have 
Heralds,  Couriers,  and  Messengers;  Records,  Chroni- 
cles, and  Registers;  then  all  sorts  of  party  names; 
Banner,  and  Standard;  Crayon,  Scalpel,  and  Broad- 
axe  ;   Age,   Epoch,   Era,   Crisis,   Times ;    and  finally 


92  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

Sun,  Star,  Comet,  Planet,  Aurora,  Galax}%  &c,  but 
among  these  and  thousands  of  other  names,  not  one 
more  truthful  and  expressive  than  that  of  u  Publick 
Occurrences." 

THE    BOSTON   NEWS-LETTER. 

The  first  Boston  newspaper  which  gained  a  perma- 
nency, was  published  in  1704,  and  was  continued  for 
more  than  seventy  years.  It  was  equally  fortunate 
in  the  selection  of  an  appropriate  and  significant 
name,  the  "Boston  News-Letter,"  and  this  was  possi- 
bly suggested  by  the  fact  that  it  was  preceded  by  the 
issue  of  a  news-letter  in  manuscript  which  was  as 
strictly,  as  the  newspaper  which  followed  it,  a 
"  News-Letter."  Naturally  enough  too,  considering 
the  times,  it  was  originated  by  the  postmaster,  who 
came  in  contact  in  his  business,  not  only  with  the 
people  of  Boston,  but  generally  with  those  of  the 
whole  colony,  as  we  think,  there  were  then  but  few 
post-offices  in  the  colony :  the  need  of  a  News-Letter 
for  everybody  would,  as  we  have  intimated,  natu- 
rally suggest  itself  to  him,  and  be  also,  as  in  fact  it 
was,  an  important  aid  to  his  business,  though  it  is 
said  he  did  not  make  much  out  of  it,  and  soon  after 
lost  his  position  as  postmaster. 

Neto  lEnrjlanti. 
The  BOSTON  News-Letter. 
From  Monday  April  17,  to  Monday  April  24,  1704. 
"  Boston:  Printed  by  B.  Green,  and  sold  by  Nicholas  Boone, 
at  his  shop  near  the  old  meeting-house." 


FIRST    NEWSPAPER   IX   AMERICA.  93 

John  Campbell,  a  Scotchman,  bookseller  and  post- 
master, was  the  proprietor  of  the  paper.  It  was 
printed  on  a  half-sheet,  pot  paper,  and  was  to  be  con- 
tinued weekty,  "  Published  by  authority.*'  Among 
the  contents  was  an  article  from  the  "  London  Flying 
Post,"  containing  news  from  Scotland,  '•  concerning 
the  present  danger  of  the  kingdom  and  the  Protes- 
tant Religion,"  "Papists  swarm  the  nation,"  &c. ; 
also  extracts  from  the  London  papers,  and  four  para- 
graphs of  marine  news.  Advertisements  inserted 
"at  a  reasonable  rate  from  twopence  to  five  shil- 
lings." On  the  same  day  that  the  paper  was  issued 
Judge  Sewall  notes  in  his  diary  that  he  went  over  to 
Cambridge,  and  gave  Mr.  Willard,  president  of  the 
College,  "the  first  .News-Letter  that  was  ever  carried 
over  the  river." 

The  second  issue  of  the  paper,  No.  2,  was  on  a 
whole  sheet  of  pot  paper,  the  last  page  blank. 

In  the  fifth  number  Boone's  name  was  left  out, 
and  the  paper  was  sold  at  the  post-office.  To  No. 
192,  the  paper  was  printed  on  a  half-sheet,  excepting 
the  second  issue. 

Green  printed  the  paper  for  Campbell,  until  Nov. 
3,  1707,  after  which  it  was  printed  by  John  Allen,  in 
Pudding  Lane,  near  the  post-office,  and  there  to  be 
sold ;  and  Allen  printed  it  four  years  to  No.  390. 
On  the  day  that  number  was  published,  Oct.  2,  1711, 
the  post-office  and  printing-office  were  burnt;  and 
the  following  week  it  was  again  printed  by  Green, 
in  Newbury  Street,  and  he  continued  to  print  it  until 
October,  1715.  In  1719,  Mr.  Campbell  tried  the  ex- 
periment of  printing  a  whole  sheet,  instead  of  a  half 


94  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

sheet,  every  other  week,  but  this  did  not  pay  very 
well :  and  in  addition  to  this  difficulty,  he  lost  the 
office  of  postmaster  in  December  of  that  year. 
The  new  postmaster  also  printed  a  paper  (Gazette) 
and  this  led  to  the  first  newspaper  war  in  the  coun- 
try, but  which  did  not  last  long,  and  terminated 
without  much  damage. 

In  1721,  Campbell  got  a  new  idea  and  printed 
some  copies  of  the  '•  News-Letter "  on  a  sheet  of 
writing  paper,  leaving  one  page  blank,  so  that  his 
subscribers  could  write  their  letters  on  that,  and  send 
the  paper  abroad  without  extra  postage.  In  the 
next  year,  after  he  had  published  the  paper  eighteen 
years,  he  sold  to  his  printer,  Bartholomew  Green. 
"Published  by  authority"  had  been  omitted  by 
Campbell  for  two  years,  and  in  1725  Green  restored 
it.  In  December,  1726,  the  title  was  changed  to 
"  The  Weekly  News-Letter,"  and  subsequently,  in 
1730,  to  "  The  Boston  Weekly  News-Letter,"  and 
the  numberings  of  the  previous  issues  were  added 
together,  and  the  total  reached  1,396,  in  October, 
1730.  No  other  alteration  took  place  until  the  death 
of  Green,  when  in  Jan.  4,  1733,  John  Draper,  his  son- 
in-law,  succeeded  him.  Draper  printed  the  "  News- 
Letter  "  for  thirty  years,  and  died  November,  1762. 
His  son,  Richard  Draper,  continued  the  paper  and 
enlarged  the  title  to  "  The  Boston  Weekly  News-Let- 
ter and  New  England  Chronicle."  In  about  a  year 
the  title  was  again  altered  to  "  The  Massachusetts 
Gazette  and  Boston  Weekly  News-Letter,"  and  was 
decorated  with  the  King's  Arms.  Richard  took  a 
kinsman  as  partner,  and  the  paper  now  bore  this  im- 


FIRST   NEWSPAPER   IN   AMERICA.  95 

print:  "Published  by  Richard  Draper,  Printer  to 
the  Governor  and  Council,  and  by  Samuel  Draper, 
at  the  printing-office,  in  Newbury  Street."  Richard 
Draper  continued  the  paper,  and  in  May,  1768,  a  sin- 
gular arrangement  took  place  between  the  "  Massa- 
chusetts Gazette"  (or  News-Letter)  and  the  "Boston 
Post  Boy  and  Advertiser,"  and  both  papers  were 
"  Published  by  authority,"  in  other  words  as  govern- 
ment papers.  Each  paper  was  one-half  "The  Massa- 
chusetts Gazette,  published  by  authority,"  and  the 
other  half  bore  its  own  proper  name;  and  Draper 
called  it  the  "Adam  and  Eve  paper."  This  plan 
continued  until  September,  1769,  and  then  its  title 
"  The  Massachusetts  Gazette  and  Boston  Weekly 
News-Letter,"  was  resumed.  In  May,  1774,  Draper 
took  a  partner,  and  the  next  month  he  died,  and  his 
widow,  Margaret  Draper,  continued  the  paper  in  the 
interest  of  the  loyalists  or  tories,  until  the  evacuation 
of  Boston,  and  then  it  ceased.  She  went  to  Halifax 
and  then  to  England,  and  there  obtained  a  pen- 
sion. The  "News-Letter"  was  published  seventy-two 
years.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  first  newspaper 
established  in  Boston  should  have  got  into  the  hands 
of  the  tories,  and  in  the  last  year  of  its  existence,  in 
the  trying  times  of  the  revolutionary  war,  should 
have  been  conducted  by  a  woman. 


"  The  New  England  Chronicle,  or  The  Evening 
Gazette,"  published  at  Cambridge,  Sept.  28,  1775, 
speaks  of  "  Mrs.  Draper's  Paper,"  in  the  following 
paragraph :  — 


96  CURIOSITIES   OF  HISTORY. 

u  The  miserable  Tools  of  Tyranny  in  Boston  appear  now  to 
be  somewhat  conscious  of  their  infamy  in  Burning  Charles- 
town,  and  are,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Father  of  Liars,  de- 
vising Methods  for  clearing  up  their  characters.  One  of  them, 
in  Mrs.  Draper's  paper,  asserts  that  the  Provincials,  on  the  17th 
of  June,  after  firing  out  of  Houses  upon  the  King's  troops,  set 
the  Buildings  on  Fire.  This  doubtless,  is  as  true  as  that  the 
Provincials  fired  first  upon  the  King's  Troops  at  Lexington. 
Both  of  them  are  equally  false,  and  well  known  to  be  as  pal- 
pable Lies  as  ever  were  uttered.  The  propagation  of  them  are, 
however,  perfectly  consistent  with  the  Perfidy,  Cowardice,  and 
Barbarity  of  Gage  and  his  detestable  understrappers." 

Some  other  paragraphs  are  copied  from  "  Mrs. 
Draper's  last  Boston  Paper,"  of  which  tbe  following 
is  one:  — 

"  We  hear  a  certain  Person  of  "Weight  among  the  Rebels 
hath  offered  to  return  to  his  Allegiance  on  Condition  of  being 
pardoned  and  provided  for  :  What  encouragement  he  has  re- 
ceived remains  a  secret." 


John  L.  DeWolf,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  has  complete 
files  of  "  The  Boston  Weekly  News-Letter,"  for  the 
years  1744  and;  1745 ;  and  we  are  indebted  to  him 
for  the  use  of  them.  The  following  are  specimens  of 
some  of  the  advertisements  of  the  time  :  — 

"  To  be  sold,  a  likely  Negro  boy  about  12  years  old  :  enquire 
of  the  printer." 

"  To  be  sold  by  the  Province  Treasurer  :  Good  Winter  Rye, 
which  may  be  seen  at  the  Granary,  on  the  Common"  [Park 

street]. 

"  A  fine  negro  male  child  to  be  given  away."  [There  are 
numerous  advertisements  of  slaves  and  negroes.] 


FIRST   NEWSPAPER    IN   AMERICA.  97 

"  To  be  sold,  a  Good  Dwelling- House,  situate  near  the  Green 
Dragon,  in  the  Main  street,  with  a  large  tract  of  Land  for  a 
Garden,  a  good  Well  in  the  Cellar  and  other  conveniences.  En- 
quire of  Daniel  Johonnot,  Distiller." 

Elizabeth  Macneal  advertises  "  a  likely  young 
negro  girl ;  "  "  also  some  Household  goods  to  be 
sold." 

Josiah  Jones  advertises  his  man  servant,  19  years 
of  age  as  a  runaway,  "  having  on  an  old  ragged  Coat, 
a  good  Check'd  Shirt  and  Trowsers,  a  Pair  of  Black 
Callamanco  Breeches,  a  pair  of  Gray  Yarn  Stockings, 
and  a  new  Pair  of  Shoes." 

"  The  Gentleman  who  borrowed  a  Blue  Great  Coat  at  the 
White  Swan,  about  three  weeks  past,  is  desir'd  to  return  the 
same  forthwith  :  the  Person  whom  he  borrow'd  it  of,  thinking 
he  has  had  it  long  enough." 

"  This  is  to  inform  the  Publick,  That  the  Cold-Bath  in  the 
Bath-Garden,  at  the  West  End  of  Boston  is  in  Beautiful  Order 
for  use.  It  is  a  living  Spring  of  Water,  which  the  coldest 
Season  in  Winter  never  affects  or  freezes,"  &c. 

"  This  is  to  inform  the  Publick  that  Edmond  Lewis  of  Bos- 
ton, watch-maker,  never  bought  a  Watch  of,  nor  ever  sold  one 
to  any  Slave  whatever  ;  and  the  malicious  Report  of  his  having 
dealt  with  some  negroes  is  scandalously  false." 

"  Choice  Carolina  Pork  and  Beef,  to  be  sold  at  the  Ware- 
house on  the  South  side  of  the  Town  Dock,  adjoining  the  Im- 
post office." 

"  A  negro  woman  to  be  sold  by  the  Printer  of  this  paper; 
the  very  best  negro  woman  in  town ;  who  has  had  the  small-pox 
and  measles;  is  as  hearty  as  a  horse,  as  brisk  as  a  bird,  and  will 
work  like  a  Beaver." 


IX. 

CURIOUS  BOSTON  LECTURES. 


BOSTONIAN    EBENEZER. 

There  was  published  in  Boston,  in  1698,  a  very 
small  thin  volume  of  82  pages,  3x5  inches,  entitled 
"  The  Bostonian  Ebenezer."  "  Some  Historical  Re- 
marks on  the  State  of  BOSTON,  the  Chief  Town  of 
New  England  and  of  the  English  AMERICA,  with 
some  agreeable  methods  for  Preserving  and  Promoting, 
the  Good  State  of  THAT,  as  well  as  any  other  Town, 
in  the  like  circumstances."  "Humbly  offered  by  a 
native  of  Boston."  Ezk.  48,  85,  "  The  Name  of  the 
City  from  that  day,  shall  be  THE  LORD  IS 
THERE."  Boston  :  printed  by  B.  Green  and  F. 
Allen,  for  Samuel  Phillips,  at  the  Brick  Shop,  1698. 

This  singular  little  volume  contains  two  lectures. 
Preceding  the  first  lecture  at  the  top  of  the  page  are 
these  lines :  — ■ 

"THE  HISTORY  OF  BOSTON", 

Related  and  Improved. 

At  Boston  Lecture  7d.  2m.  1698."     [April  7,  1698.] 

The  remainder  of  the  page  is  occupied  with  this 
preface  :  — 


CURIOUS   BOSTON   LECTURES.  \)\) 

£6~T  \  EMARKABLE  and  memorable,  was  the  Time,  when 
|\  an  Army  of  Terrible  Destroyers  was  coming  against 
one  of  the  Chief  Towns  in  the  Land  of  Israel. 
God  Rescued  the  Town  from  the  Irresistible  Fury  and  Approach 
of  those  Destroyers,  by  an  Immediate  Hand  of  Heaven  upon 
them.  Upon  that  miraculous  Rescue  of  the  Town,  and  of 
the  whole  Country  whose  Fate  was  much  enwrapped  in  it,  there 
follow'd  that  Action  of  the  Prophet,  SAMUEL,  which  is  this 
Day,  to  be,  with  some  Imitation  Repeated,  in  the  midst  of  thee, 
O,  BOSTON,  Thou  helped  of  the  Lord." 

At  the  head  of  the  next  page  we  have  the  text,  — 

I  SAM.  VII.  12. 
"  Then  SAMUEL  took  a  Stone  and  Set  it  up,  .  .  .and  called 
the  Name  of  it  EBENEZER,  saying,  Hitherto  the  Lord  hath 
Helped  us." 

Then  follows  the  exordium,  in  which  the  preacher 
says  the  Thankful  Servants  of  God  have  used  some- 
times to  erect  monuments  of  stone  as  durable  tokens 
of  their  thankfulness  :  — 

"Jacob  did  so;  Joshua  did  so;  and  Samuel  did  so."  "  The 
Stone  erected  by  Samuel,  with  the  name  of  Ebenezer,  which  is  as 
much  as  to  say,  A  Stone  of  Help.  I  know  not  whether  any  thing 
might  be  Writt  upon  it;  but  I  am  sure,  there  is  one  thing  to  be 
now  Read  upon  it,  by  ourselves,  in  the  Text  where  we  find  it  : 
Namely,  this  much, 

"  That  a  People  whom  the  God  of  Heaven  hath  Remarkably  Helped, 
in  their  Distresses  ought  Greatly  and  Gratefully  to  acknowledge,  what 
Ijclp  of  Heaven  they  have  Received. 

"  Now,  'tis  not  my  Design  to  lay  the  Scene  of  my  Discourse,  as 
far  off  as  Bethcar,  the  place  where  Samuel  set  up  his  Ebenezer. 
I  am  immediately  to  Transfer  it  into  the  heart  of  Boston,  a 
;>lace  where  the  Remarkable  Help  Received  from  Heaven,  by  the 
i'eople,  does  loudly  call  for  an  Ebenezer.    And  I  do  not  ask  you, 


100  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

to  change  the  Name  of  the  Town,  into  that  of  Pfclp  stone,  as 
there  is  a  Town  in  England  of  that  Name,  which  may  seem 
the  English  of  lEuettE^cr;  but  my  Sermon  shall  be  this  Day 
your  Ebenezer,  if  you  will  with  a  Favorable  and  Profitable 
Attention  Entertain  it.  May  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  accept 
me,  and  assist  me  now  to  Glorify  Him,  in  the  Town,  where  I 
drew  my  First  Sinful  Breath.  A  Town,  whereto  I  am  under 
Great  Obligations,  for  the  Precious  Opportunities  to  Glorify 
Uim,  which  I  have  quietly  enjoy'd  therein,  for  NEAR  EIGH- 
TEEN years  together.  0  my  Lord  God,  Remember  me,  I  pray 
thee,  and  strengthen  me  this  once,  to  speak  from  thee,  unto  thy 
People. 

"  And  now,  Sirs,  That  I  may  set  up  an  EBENEZER  among 
you,  there  are  these  Things  to  be  inculcated." 

"  1.  Let  us  Thankfully,  and  Agreeably,  and  Particularly,  ac- 
knowledge what  Help  we  have  received  from  the  God  of  Heaven, 
in  the  years  that  have  rolled  over  us.  While  the  Blessed 
Apostle  Paul,  was  as  it  should  seem,  yet  short  of  being  Three- 
score years  old,  how  affectionately  did  he  set  an  Ebenezer  with 
the  Acknowledgment  in  Acts  26,  22.  Having  obtained  Help  of 
God,  I  continue  to  this  day.  Our  Town  is  now  Threescore  and 
Eight  years  old  :  and  certainly  'tis  Time  for  us,  with  all  possible 
affection  to  set  up  our  Ebenezer,  saying,  Having  obtained  Help 
from  God,  the  Town  is  continued,  until  almost  the  Age  of  Man 
is  passed  over  it.  The  Town  hath  indeed  Three  Elder  Sisters 
in  this  Colony  ;  but  it  hath  wonderfully  outgrown  them  all ; 
and  her  Mother,  old  Boston,  in  England  also  ;  Yea,  within  a 
Few  Years,  after  the  first  settlement  it  grew  to  be,  the  Metrop- 
olis of  the  whole  English  America.  Little  was  this  expected,  by 
them  that  first  settled  the  town,  when,  for  a  while,  Boston  was 
proverbially  called  Lost  Town,  for  the  mean  and  sad  circum- 
stances of  it.  But,  O  Boston,  it  is  because  thou  hast  Obtained 
help  from  God.^  "  There  have  been  several  years  wherein  the 
Terrible  Famine  hath  Terribly  Stared  the  Town  in  the  Face. 
We  have  been  brought  sometimes  unto  the  Last  Meal  in  the 
Barrel !     But  the  fear'd  Famine  has  always  been  kept  off." 

The  preacher  proceeds,  — 


\ 


CURIOUS   BOSTON    LECTURES.  101 

"A  formidable  French  squadron  hath  not  shot  one  Bomb 
into  the  midst  of  Thee;  "  our  Streets  have  not  run  Blood  and 
Gore;  devouring  flames  have  not  raged.  "Boston,  'Tis  a  mar- 
vellous Thing,  a  Plague  has  not  laid  desolate!"  "Boston, 
Thou  hast  been  lifted  up  to  Heaven;  there  is  not  a  Town  upon 
Earth,  which,  on  some  accounts,  has  more  to  answer  for." 

Secondly,  we  are  to  acknowledge  whose  help  it  is.  "This 
is  the  voice  of  God  from  Heaven  to  Boston  this  day;  Thy 
God  hath  helped  thee!"  "Old  Boston,  by  name,  was  but 
Saint  BotoJphs  Town.  Whereas  Thou,  O  Boston,  shall  have  but 
one  Protector  in  Heaven,  and  that  is  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

The  preacher's  third  division  is  that  the  help  Bos- 
ton has  already  had  should  lead  her  people  to  Hope. 
"  Hope  in  him  for  more  help  hereafter."  "  The 
motto  upon  all  our  Ebenezer's  is  Hope  in  God ! 
Hope  in  God ! "  In  the  course  of  this  part  of  his 
lecture,  the  preacher  says,  ■ — 

"  The  Town  is  at  this  day  full  of  Widows  and  Orphans,  and 
a  multitude  of  them  are  very  helpless  creatures.  I  am  aston- 
ished how  they  live!  In  that  church,  whereof  I  am  the  servant, 
I  have  counted.  The  Widows  make  about  a  sixth  part  of  our 
communicants,  and  no  doubt  in  the  whole  town,  the  proportion 
differs  not  very  much.  Now,  stand  still  my  Friends,  and 
behold  the  will  of  God!  Were  any  of  these  ever  starved  yet? 
No,  these  widows  are  every  one  in  some  sort  provided  for." 

Fourthly,  "Let  all  that  bear  public  office  in  the  town  con- 
tribute all  the  help  they  can  that  may  continue  the  help  of 
God  in  us!  "  First  the  ministers  will  help,  and  then  he  calls 
upon  the  Justices  of  the  Courts,  the  constables,  the  school-mas- 
ters and  the  townsmen  to  help:  "Each  of  the  sorts  by  them- 
selves, may  they  come  together  to  consider,  What  shall  we  do 
to  save  the  town  ?  " 

Fifthly,  "  God  help  the  town  to  manifest  all  that  pi'etu  which 
a  town  so  helped  of  Him,  is  obliged  unto!"  And  then  the 
town  is  warned  against  all  sorts  of  iniquities:  against  fortune- 
tellers, bad  houses,  drinking  houses,  &c. 


102  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

"Ah!  Boston,  Beware,  Beware,  lest  the  Sin  of  Sodom  get 
Footing  in  thee  !  " 

"And,  Oh!  that  the  Drinking  Houses  in  the  Town,  might 
once  come  under  a  laudable  Regulation.  The  Town  has  an 
Enormous  Number  of  them !  Will  the  Haunters  of  those  Houses 
hear  the  Counsels  of  Heaven?  For  you  that  are  the  Town 
Dwellers,  to  be  oft,  or  long,  in  your  Visits  of  the  Ordinary, 
'twill  certainly  Expose  you  to  Mischiefs  more  than  ordinary.  I 
have  seen  certain  Taverns  where  the  Pictures  of  horrible  De- 
vourers1  were  hang'd  out  for  the  signs;  and  thought  I,  'twere 
well  if  such  Signs  were  not  sometimes  too  Significant  I  Alasj 
men  have  their  estates  Devoured,  their  names  Devoured,  their 
Hours  Devoured,  and  their  very  soul  Devoured,  when  they  are  so 
besotted,  that  they  are  not  in  their  Element,  except  they  be  in 
Tippling  at  Such  Houses.  When  once  a  man  is  Bewitched  with 
the  Ordinary,  what  usually  becomes  of  him?  He  is  a  gone 
man.  And  when  he  comes  to  Dy,  he'l  cry  out,  as  many  have 
done,  Ale  Houses  are  Hell  Houses!  Ale  Houses  are  Hell  Houses! 
Ale  Houses  are  Hell  Houses! "  .  .  .  "  There  was  an  Inn  at  Bethle- 
hem, where  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  to  be  met  withal.  Can 
Boston  boast  of  many  such?  Alas,  Too  ordinarily  it  may  be 
said,  There  is  no  Room  for  Him  in  the  Inn!  My  Friends,  Let 
me  beg  it  of  you:  Banish  the  unfruitful  works  of  Darkness,  from 
your  Houses,  and  then  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  will  shine  upon 
them.  Don't  countenance  Drunkenness,  Revelling  and  M {spend- 
ing of  precious  Time  in  your  Houses.  Let  none  have  the 
snares  of  Death  Laid  for  them  in  your  Houses." 

The  preacher  goes  on  in  two  or  three  further  divis- 
ions with  his  declamation  against  evil  and  sins,  and 
his  conjurations  for  better  things,  in  faith,  hopes  and 
works,  intimating  all  the  evils  that  exist  in  Boston, 
and  warning  the  people  of  the  danger  of  them. 

The  second  sermon  is  a  piece  of  similar  declama- 
tion, about  what  the  preacher  calls  Household  Reli- 

1  The  "  Lion  Tavern,"  or  possibly  the  "  Green  Dragon." 


CURIOUS   BOSTON   LECTURES.  103 

gion,  "at  Boston  Lecture,  26cl.  7m.  1G05."     A  short 
extract  will  give  a  sample  of  this  discourse. 

"First,  I  suppose,  we  are  all  sensible,  That  for  us  to  Loose 
our  Houses  by  any  Disaster  whatsoever,  would  be  a  very  terrible 
Calamity:  Oh!  it  would  be  a  Judgment,  of  God,  wherein  the 
Anger  of  God,  would  be  seen  written  with  fiery  characters.  If 
by  an  accident,  or  by  an  enemy,  our  House  be  laid  in  desola- 
tion, every  Roar  of  the  Raging  Flames,  every  crack  of  the 
1  umbling  Timbers,  every  Downfall  of  the  Undermined  walls, 
and  every  jingle  of  the  Bells  then  tolling  the  Funeral  of  those 
Houses,  would  loudly  utter  the  voice  in  Deut.,  A  Fire  is  Kindled 
in  the  Anger  of  God." 

This  discourse  is  very  severe  upon  all  "  Houses 
where  God  is  not  served,"  and  defines  them  as  gam- 
ing-houses, drinking-houses,  houses  where  troops  and 
harlots  assemble.  "  If  the  Worshipful  Justices, 
and  the  Constables,  and  the  Tythingmen,  would  In- 
vigorate their  zeal,  to  Rout  the  Villanous  Haunts  of 
those  Houses,  the  whole  Town  would  be  vastly  the 
Safer  for  it." 

All  that  can  be  said  of  these  curious  discourses  is 
that  they  are  a  strange  medley  of  declamation,  fanati- 
cism, and  exhortation,  not  lacking  in  thought  perhaps, 
or  devoid  of  sense,  but  rather  insinuating  than  direct 
and  sensible.  The  author  does  not  print  his  name, 
though  they  purport  to  be  Boston  Lectures,  one 
delivered  in  1695  and  the  other  in  1698 :  it  is  under- 
stood, however,  that  they  were  by  the  Rev.  Cotton 
Mather. 


REMARKABLE   PROCLAMATIONS. 


FAST    DAY. 


The  first  proclamation,  issued  on  a  broadside,  that 
we  have  seen,  is  that  of  March,  1743,  "  for  a  public 
fast."  It  is  issued  by  Gov.  Shirley,  and  begins,  "  It 
being  our  constant  and  indispensable  duty  by  prayer 
and"  supplication  with  thanksgiving  to  make  known 
our  requests  to  God,"  &c.  He  then  appoints  the  12th 
of  April  ensuing  to  be  observed  as  a  clay  of  general 
fasting  and  prayer.  After  acknowledging  "  all  our 
heinous  and  aggravated  offences,"  the  people  are  re- 
quired to  implore  the  Divine  mercy  for  "  the  following 
blessings,  namely,"  the  life  and  health  of  "  Our  Sover- 
eign Lord  the  King ; "  the  prosperity  of  his  govern- 
ment ;  that  he  would  direct  and  grant  success  to  his 
Majesty's  arms  in  the  present  war,  and  prevent  a 
further  rupture  among  the  nations;  in  behalf  of  the 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales;  and  that  "it  would 
please  God  to  cover  and  defend  the  English  planta 
tions,  more  especially  this  Province,"  &c.  Given  at 
the  Council  Chamber,  signed,  &c,  and  ending  "  God 
save  the  King." 

104 


REMARKABLE   PROCLAMATIONS.  105 


"WAR    AGAINST   THE   FRENCH    KING. 

The  next  proclamation  which  we  have  is  not  prob- 
ably much  known,  and  not  such  as  were  issued  by 
the  governors  of  the  Provinces  or  States,  but  is  a 
"Declaration  of  war  against  the  French  King."  It 
purports  to  be  issued  originally  from  "  Our  Court  at 
St.  James's,  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  March,  1744,  in 
the  17th  year  of  our  reign."  "  God  save  the  King." 
"  Printed  in  London  by  Thomas  Baskett  and  Robert 
Baskett,  printers  to  the  King's  most  excellent  Majes- 
ty, 1744."  "  Boston,  N.  E.  reprinted  by  John  Draper, 
Printer  to  His  Excellency  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil, 1774." 

The  proclamation  rehearses  the  troubles  which 
have  taken  place  among  the  European  states,  "  with 
a  view  to  overturn  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe, 
.  .  .  in  direct  violation  of  the  solemn  guaranty  of 
the  Pragmatick  Sanction  given  by  him  [the  French 
King]  in  1788,  in  consideration  of  the  cession  of  Lor- 
rain."  It  refers  to  other  offensive  conduct  of  the 
French  King,  and  then  replies  to  some  assertions  made 
in  the  "French  King's  declaration  of  war."  "Being 
therefore  indispensably  obliged  to  take  up  arms,"  the 
King  calls  upon  all  his  subjects  to  assist  in  prosecut- 
ing the  same  by  sea  and  land;  but  no  special  refer- 
ence is  made  to  the  British  colonies  in  America,  and 
the  governor  (Shirley)  does  not  even  add  his  name 
to  the  proclamation.  One  copy  of  the  remarkable 
document,  at  least,  has  been  preserved,  and  is  in  pos 
session  of  Mr.  John  L.  DeWolf  of  Boston.  It  is 
headed  by  an  engraving  of  the  King's  arms,  as  are 


106  CURIOSITIES   OF    HISTORY. 

all  the  proclamations  issued  by  the  governor,  includ- 
ing those  for  Fast  and  Thanksgiving  Days,  &c.  It  is 
not  probable,  though  we  do  not  know  the  fact,  that  a 
declaration  of  war  by  the  King  of  England  was  ever 
re-issued  by  the  governor  of  any  other  colony.  Pre- 
viously to  this,  in  this  colony,  in  1672,  the  procla- 
mation of  war,  by  the  King  of  England  against  the 
Dutch,  was  publicly  read  in  Boston. 

FAST    DAY. 

Following  this  on  the  8th  of  June,  1741,  was  issued 
the  "  proclamation  for  a  public  fast."  "  Whereas  it 
hath  pleased  God,  in  his  holy,  wise  and  sovereign 
Providence,  farther  to  involve  the  British  dominions 
in  war,  whereby  this  Province  will  be  greatly  af- 
fected," &c.  Therefore  the  28th  day  of  June  is 
appointed  to  be  observed  as  a  da}'  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  &c,  "and  all  servile  labor  and  recreations 
are  forbidden  on  that  day."  Signed,  W.  Shirley. 
[Troops  were  raised  in  Boston  at  this  time,  following 
the  declaration  of  29th  March,  and  sent  to  Annapo- 
lis, Nova  Scotia,  where  they  arrived,  as  Gordon  says, 
in  season,  and  "  were  the  probable  means  of  saving 
the  country."] 

RIOT   IN   BRISTOL   COUNTY. 

Among  the  lesser  proclamations,  issued  by  Gov. 
Shirley,  was  one  on  account  of  "an  heinous  riot  in 
the  Town  of  Bristol,  in  open  defiance  of  His  Majes- 
ty's authority  and  Government  within  this  Province." 
This  was  a  case  where  the  six  persons  named  and  twa 
great  number  of  others,"  marched  to  the  county  jail, 


REMARKABLE   PROCLAMATIONS.  107 

and  there  demanded  the  release  of  John  Round,  jr., 
and  by  force  of  arms  broke  open  said  prison,  "  rescu- 
ing and  canying  off  the  said  John  Round  and 
Samuel  Borden,  another  prisoner  in  said  gaol."  The 
governor  calls  upon  all  officers  and  people  to  appre- 
hend and  secure  the  parties,  and  "for  the  encourage- 
ment of  all  persons  whatsoever  that  shall  discover 
the  parties,"  a  reward  of  one  hundred  pounds  is 
offered  for  several  of  them,  and  fifty  pounds  each  for 
others.  Given  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Boston, 
18th  day  of  October,  1744.     Signed,  &c. 

WAR   AGAINST   THE    INDIANS. 

Another  remarkable  proclamation  was  issued  by 
"  His  Excellency,  William  Shirley,  Esq.,  Captain- 
General  and  Governor-in-Chief  in  and  over  His  Maj- 
esty's Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  Eng- 
land." This  is  a  "declaration  of  war  against  the 
Cape  Sable's  and  St.  John's  Indians."  It  is  stated 
that  whereas  some  of  the  Cape  Sable  Indians,  who 
have  formally  by  treaty  submitted  to  his  Majesty's 
government,  have,  "  in  the  port  of  Jedoure,  in  a 
treacherous  and  cruel  manner,  murdered  divers  of 
His  Majesty's  English  subjects,  belonging  to  a  fishing 
vessel ;  and,  whereas,  the  Cape  Sable  Indians  with 
the  St.  John's  tribe,  have  in  a  hostile  manner  joined 
with  the  French  King's  subjects  in  assaulting  His 
Majesty's  fort  at  Annapolis-Royal,  &c,  therefore, 
said  Indians  are  declared  to  be  rebels,  traitors,  and 
enemies,  and  His  Majesty's  officers  and  subjects  are 
to  execute  all  acts  of  hostility  against  the  said  In- 
dians," &c.  This  proclamation  is  dated  at  Boston, 
Oct.  19, 1744. 


108  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 


THANKSGIVING. 

On  the  next  day,  20th  October,  1744,  there  was 
issued  the  usual  proclamation  for  thanksgiving : 
"  F'orasmuch  as,  amidst  the  many  rebukes  of  Divine 
Providence  with  which  we  are  righteously  afflicted, 
more  especially  in  the  present  expensive  and  calami- 
tous war,  it  has  pleased  God  to  favor  us  with  many 
great  and  undeserved  mercies  in  the  course  of  this 
year,"  particularly  in  preserving  the  life  and  health 
of  the  King,  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales,  &c. ; 
in  the  restraint  hitherto  given  to  the  Indians  near 
the  frontiers  of  this  Province,  &c. :  therefore,  the 
twenty-second  day  of  December  is  to  be  observed  as 
a  day  of  thanksgiving  throughout  the  Province.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  nothing  is  said  concerning  the 
season  or  the  crops  in  any  of  these  thanksgiving 
proclamations,  and  it  would  seem  that  that  matter 
was  not  thought  of  any  account  as  compared  with 
the  health  of  his  Majesty  the  King  and  the  royal 
princesses. 

[Here  are  three  proclamations  issued  on  the  18th, 
19th,  and  20th  October,  1744,  the  first  in  relation  to 
a  "  heinous  riot,"  the  second  a  bloody  declaration  of 
war,  and  the  third  for  a  public  thanksgiving.] 

BLOODY   PROCLAMATION   AGAINST   THE   INDIANS. 

In  two  weeks  after  the  thanksgiving  proclamation, 
on  the  2d  of  November,  1744,  came  forth  another 
proclamation  from  Gov.  Shirley,  of  a  most  bloody 
character,  against  the  Indians,  as  follows :  — 


REMARKABLE   PROCLAMATIONS.  109 


By  His  Excellency 
WILLIAM  SHIRLEY,   Esq.; 
Captain-General  and  Governour-in-Chief,  in  and  over  His  Maj- 
esty's Province  of  the  Massachusetts-Bay  in  New-England. 

A  PROCLAMATION 

For    the   Encouragement    of  Vbluntiers    to  prosecute   the   War 
against  the  St.  John's  and  Cape  Sable's  Indians. 

"TTTHEREAS  the  Indians  of  the  Cape-Sable's  and  St.  John's 
*  *  Tribes  have  by  their  Violation  of  their  solemn  Treaties 
with  His  Majesty's  Governours,  and  their  open  Hostilities  com- 
mitted against  His  Majesty's  Subjects  of  this  Province  and  the 
Province  of  Nova-Scotia,  obliged  me,  with  the  unanimous  Ad- 
vice of  His  Majesty's  Council,  to  declare  war  against  them;  In 
Consequence  of  which  the  General  Assembly  of  this  Province 
have  "  Voted,  That  there  be  granted,  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
publick  Treasury,  to  any  Company,  Party,  or  Person  singly, 
of  His  Majesty's  Subjects,  belonging  to  and  residing  within 
this  Province,  who  shall  voluntarily,  and  at  their  own  proper 
Cost  and  Charge,  go  out  and  kill  a  male  Indian  of  the  Age  of 
Twelve  Years  or  upwards,  of  the  Tribe  of  St.  Johns  or  Cape- 
Sables,  after  the  Twenty-sixth  Day  of  October  last  past,  and  be- 
fore the  last  Day  of  June  Anno  Domini,  One  Thousand  seven 
Hundred  and  forty-five  (or  for  such  Part  of  that  Term  as  the 
War  shall  continue),  in  any  place  to  the  Eastward  of  a  Line,  to 
be  fixed  by  the  Governour  and  His  Majesty's  Council  of  this 
Province,  somewhere  to  the  Eastward  of  Penobscot,  and  pro- 
duce his  Scalp  in  Evidence  of  his  Death,  the  Sum  of  one  Hun- 


110  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTOEY. 

dred  Pounds  in  Bills  of  Credit  of  this  Province  of  the  new 
Tenor,  and  the  Sum  of  one  Hundred  $f  Five  Pounds  in  said 
Bills  for  any  Male  of  the  like  Age  who  shall  be  taken  Captive, 
and  delivered  to  the  Order  of  the  Captain-General,  to  be  at  the 
Disposal  and  for  the  Use  of  the  Government  ;  and  the  Sum  of 
Fifty  Pounds,  in  said  Bills,  for  women  ;  and  the  like  Sum  for 
Children  under  the  Age  of  Twelve  Years  killed  in  Fight;  and 
Fifty-five  Pounds  for  such  of  them  as  shall  be  taken  Prisoners, 
together  with  the  Plunder:  Provided  no  Payment  be  made  as 
aforesaid  for  killing  or  taking  Captive  any  of  the  said  Indians, 
until  Proof  thereof  be  made  to  the  Acceptance  of  the  Governour 
and  Council;" 

AND  whereas,  since  the  passing  of  the  said  Yote  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  I  have  with  the  Advice  of  His  Majesty's  Coun- 
cil determined,  That  the  Line  above  mentioned,  to  the  Eastward 
of  which  the  said  Indians  may  be  slain  and  taken  Prisoners, 
shall  begin  on  the  Sea- Shore  at  Three  Leagues  Distance  from 
Eastermost  Part  of  the  Mouth  of  Passamaquoddy  River,  and 
from  thence  to  run  North  into  the  Country  thro'  the  Province 
of  Nova-Scotia,  to  the  River  of  St.  Lawrence  ; 
ft  fjabc  therefore  trjougrjt  fit,  fottfj  tf)e  <aorjtee  of  $ts  fHajcstg's 
~  Council,  to  issue  tfjts  proclamation  for  gibing  public  Notice  of 
tlje  Encouragement  grantcH  bg  trjc  General  Court  to  all  persons 
tofjo  mag  be  Dtsposco  to  serbe  tfjeir  Itfng  ano  Countrg  in  trjc  Prose* 
rution  of  tfje  SSSar  against  trjc  sato  Cape-Sable's  anU  St.  John's 
Crtbcs,  in  tfje  manner  abobe=mcnttonco,  upon  tfjctr  oron  rrjarge;  as 
also  to  gibe  Notice  to  trje  scbcral  bribes  of  trjc  Eastern  Encians,  bnjo 
arc  still  in  cImttg  rottrj  us,  of  trje  33ounoarg=3line  aforesato;  assur* 
tng  tfjrm  tfjat  tfjts  ©obcrnment  fjabc  octcrmtnetr  to  treat  as  Enemies 
all  sucrj  Enotans  as  litre  begona  trje  satti  ILtnc. 

Given  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Boston,  on  Friday  the 
Second  Day  of  November,  1744.  In  the  Eighteenth 
Year  of  the  Reign  of  Our  Sovereign  Lord  GEORGE  the 
Second,  by  the  Grace  of  GOD  of  Great-Britain,  France 
and  Ireland,  KING,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c. 

W.  SHIRLEY. 
By  order  of  the  Governour,  with 
the  Advice  of  the  Council, 

J.  Willard,  Seer. 

GOD  save  the  KING. 


REMARKABLE   PROCLAMATIONS.  Ill 

No  mention  is  made  of  either  of  these  remarkable 
proclamations  in  any  history  of  Boston,  or  other  work 
that  we  have  seen;  and  it  can  scarcely  be  generally 
known  that  Massachusetts  indorsed  the  proclamation 
of  the  King  of  England,  declaring  war  against  "the 
French  King,"  or  that  the  colony,  without  regard  to 
the  King  and  his  government,  declared  war,  includ- 
ing the  most  desperate  and  bloody  conditions,  against 
the  St.  John's  and  Cape  Sable's  Indians,  a  hundred 
years  after  the  settlement  of  the  colony,  and  some- 
thing more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  sum  of  five  pounds  ad- 
ditional is  offered  in  each  case  for  man,  woman,  or 
child,  if  brought  in  alive  ;  but  considering  the  ex- 
pense, danger,  and  trouble  of  doing  so,  it  could  hardly 
have  been  expected  that  any  thing  beyond  the  scalps 
of  the  victims,  even  of  children,  would  be  brought 
in  ;  and  it  would  seem,  if  any  considerable  number 
were  killed  or  brought  in,  that  the  debt  incurred 
would  be  likely  to  become  somewhat  burdensome 
upon  the  colony.  The  terms  of  the  proclamation 
were  based  upon  the  votes  and  orders  of  the  General 
Court,  authorizing  the  payment  of  the  rewards 
offered,  passed  on  the  26th  day  of  October.  The 
records  of  Boston  show  that  in  1756,  January,  £b0 
were  paid  for  an  Indian  scalp,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
this  was  the  only  payment  ever  made  for  such  a  pur- 
chase. 

FAST  DAY. 

This  threatening  proclamation  was  followed  by  an- 
other, on  the  18th  February,  for  a  general  fast,  as  at 


112  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

this  time  the  expedition  to  Louisbourg,  which  soon 
followed,  was  in  preparation  :  — 

"  Whereas  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God,  in  his 
holy  and  sovereign  Providence,  to  involve  His  Maj- 
esty's Dominions  in  War,  which,  notwithstanding  the 
many  instances  of  success,  which,  through  Divine  fa- 
vor, have  attended  the  arms  of  His  Majesty  and  his 
allies,  ought  to  be  regarded  as  an  effect  of  the  anger 
of  God  against  us;  and,  whereas,  this  government 
have,  upon  mature  consideration,  determined  by  the 
Divine  permission,  to  prosecute  an  expedition  against 
His  Majesty's  enemies,  upon  the  success  of  wliich,  the 
prosperity  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  in  North  America, 
and  more  especially  in  this  Province,  does  under 
God,  much  depend,"  &c,  &c,  therefore  the  28th  clay 
of  February  instant,  is  appointed  for  a  general  fast, 
to  be  observed  with  fervent  prayers  and  supplica- 
tions, and  all  labor  and  recreation  are  strictly  for- 
bidden. "  Given  at  the  Province  House,  in  Boston, 
the  18th  clay  of  February,  1744." 

[The  expedition  sailed  soon  after,  and  arrived  at 
Canso,  under  Col.  Pepperell,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
having  3,250  Massachusetts  troops.  The  fort  and 
city  of  Louisbourg  were  surrendered  and  given  up 
on  the  17th  of  June;  and  two  East  India  ships  and 
one  South  Sea  ship,  worth  £  000,000,  were  captured 
at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor.] 

ANOTHER    FAST. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1745,  Gov.  Shirley  issues 
another  proclamation  for  a  general  fast,  on  Thursday, 
4th  clay  of  April.     The  expedition  for  Cape  Breton 


REMARKABLE   PROCLAMATIONS.  113 

had  just  embarked  and  "taken  their  departure  from 
this  place,"  and  this  was  deemed,  in  addition  to  the 
usual  custom,  occasion  for  a  fast.  The  favor  of  Di- 
vine Providence  was  implored  for  the  success  of  the 
expedition  which  the  government  had,  at  "great  ex- 
pense and  labor,  raised  and  fitted  out  with  a  large 
body  of  troops  and  a  considerable  naval  force,  for  an 
expedition  against  the  French  at  Cape  Breton,"  &c. 

THANKSGIVING    REJOICING. 

News  of  the  success  of  the  expedition  was  received 
in  Boston,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1745,  and  there  were 
great  rejoicings  and  illuminations  in  the  town  in  con- 
sequence ;  and  on  the  8th,  Gov.  Shirley  issued  his 
proclamation  for  a  general  thanksgiving,  it  having 
pleased  God,  as  he  elaborately  expressed  it,  "  by 
a  wonderful  series  of  successes  to  bring  this  great 
affair  to  a  happy  issue  in  the  reduction  of  the  city 
and  fortress  of  Louisbourg."  There  was  added,  "  All 
servile  labor  is  forbidden  on  said  day,"  and  the  bar 
against  recreations  is  omitted ;  but  all  persons  are 
called  upon  to  preserve  order. 

GOV.   PHIPS's   PROCLAMATIONS. 

In  September,  1745,  while  Gov.  Shirley  and  his 
lady  were  absent  on  a  visit  to  Louisbourg,  the  scene 
of  the  late  success  of  his  expedition,  Spencer  Phips, 
acting  governor,  issued  three  proclamations  m  the 
following  three  months :  on  the  6th  of  September, 
for  a  public  fast,  partly  on  account  of  the  war  with 
the  Indians,  and  among  other  things  "that  His  Ex- 
cellency the    Governor   may   be   directed   and   sue- 


114  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

ceoded  in  the  important  affairs  he  is  transacting 
at  Louisbourg  and  returned  in  safety."  Signed  S. 
Pliips.  By  order  of  the  honorable  the  Lieut.-Gover- 
nor,  with  the  advice  of  the  Council.  J.  Willard, 
Secretary. 

The  second  was  issued  on  the  twenty-second  day 
of  November,  1745,  on  account  of  some  disorders  in 
Boston,  committed  by  divers  officers  and  seamen,  be- 
longing to  His  Majesty's  ship  "  Wager,"  and  other 
seamen  belonging  to  the  sloop  "  Resolution,"  late  in 
His  Majesty's  service,  by  which  two  persons  lost  their 
lives.  The  constables  and  authorities  of  Boston  and 
Charlestown  are  called  upon  to  search  for  them  in 
any  justly  suspected  houses,  &c.  By  order  of  the 
Honorable  the  Lieut.-Governor,  with  the  advice  of 
the  Council. 

The  third  proclamation  of  acting  Governor  Phips 
was  issued  on  the  25th  of  November,  1745,  for  a  gen- 
eral thanksgiving,  in  "  consideration  of  the  manifold 
and  remarkable  instances  of  the  Divine  favor  towards 
our  nation  and  land  in  the  course  of  the  past  year, 
which  (though  mixed  with  various  rebukes  of  Provi- 
dence manifesting  the  righteous  discipline  of  God 
toward  us  for  our  sins)  demand  our  publick  and 
thankful  acknowledgments."  Signed,  S.  Phips. 
By  His  Honor's  command,  with  the  advice  of  the 
Council. 

Besides  the  above  there  were  two  or  three  other 
proclamations,  calling  for  troops  and  other  objects. 
The  first  Fast  Day  held  in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  so 
far  as  we  know,  was  in  the  month  of  July,  1623,  and 
the  first  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  July  30,  1630, 
soon  after  Winthrop's  arrival. 


XI. 


POPULAR    PURITAN    LITERATURE. 


AN  EARTHQUAKE  IN   BOSTON. 

On  the  Lord's  clay,  June  3,  1744,  between  ten  and 
eleven  o'clock,  there  was  experienced  at  Boston,  a 
violent  earthquake,  "  which  was  felt  for  above  an 
hundred  of  miles."  The  matter,  naturally  somewhat 
startling  and  impressive,  called  forth  from  some  un- 
known author,  an  elaborate  poem,  the  purpose  and 
spirit  of  which  will  be  readily  understood  by  a  few 
extracts.  It  is  printed  on  a  sheet,  about  12  by  20 
inches,  in  three  columns,  and  was  "  sold  by  Benjamin 
Gray,  in  Milk  Street,  1744."  The  first  portion  and 
some  other  parts  of  the  poem  are  missing  from  the 
copy  we  have.  Somewhere  near  the  middle  of  the 
first  column  our  quotations  commence  :  — 

"  Again  the  Lord  did  shake  the  Earth, 
While  Christ  was  in  the  Tomb, 
When  from  the  glorious  Heavenly  World 

A  glorious  Angel  came. 
Behold  there  was  at  that  same  Time 
An  Earthquake  strong  and  great, 
Which  made  the  Watchmen  at  the  Tomb 
To  tremble,  shake  and  quake. 

115 


116  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

Again  when  Paul  and  Silas  was 

Once  into  Prison  cast, 
And  cruelly  the  Keeper  had 

In  stocks  made  their  feet  fast, 
Like  the  clear  Children  of  the  Lord, 

They  to  their  Father  sing, 
They  praises  sing  unto  the  Lord 

Till  all  the  Prison  did  ring. 
When  lo  !  immediately  there  was 

A  terrible  Earthquake, 
Which  made  the  whole  foundation  of 

The  Prison-House  to  shake. 
The  Doors  fly  open  03'  its  Power 

And  now  wide  open  stand, 
'Till  these  dear  Prisoners  of  the  Lord 

Arc  loosed  from  their  Bands. 
And  thus  we  see  in  very  Truth, 

This  wondrous  Work  is  done, 
~By  none  but  the  eternal  God, 

And  Israel's  hoi}*  One. 
And  that  they're  tokens  of  his  Wrath, 

O,  let  not  one  gain-sa}', 
For  sure  the  Lord  is  much  provok'd, 

When  he  speaks  in  this  way. 
Be  then  excited,  O,  clear  Friends 

With  vigorous  accord, 
And  all  the  might  and  strength  you  have, 

To  turn  unto  the  Lord. 
For  lo  !  on  the  last  Sabbath  da}r, 

The  Lord  did  plainly  shew, 
What  in  a  single  moment's  time 

He  might  have  clone  with  you. 
A  solemn  warning  let  it  be, 

To  all  with  one  accord 


POPULAR   PURITAN   LITERATURE.  117 

For  their  Souls  precious  Life  to  haste 
Their  turning  unto  God. 

"  Perhaps  you'll  think  the  Danger's  past 

That  all  is  safe  and  sure 
Because  the  mighty  God  hath  said 

He'll  drown  the  world  no  more. 
But,  oh  !  consider  dearest  Friends, 

How  vast  his  judgments  are, 
And  if  you  are  resolv'cl  to  Sin 

To  meet  your  God  prepare. 
Who  hath  his  Magazines  of  Fire, 

In  Heaven  and  Earth  and  Seas, 
Which  always  wait  on  his  Command, 

And  run  where'er  he  please. 
If  God  the  awful  word  but  speak, 

And  bid  the  Fire  run, 
The  Magazines  together  meet, 

And  like  a  furnace  burn. 
Above  our  Head,  below  our  Feet, 

God  Treasures  hath  in  Store  ; 
And  when  he  gives  out  his  Command, 

The  Volcano's  will  roar. 
Amazingly  the  Earth  will  quake, 

The  World  a  flaming  be 
When  God,  the  great,  the  mighty  God, 

Gives  forth  his  just  Decree. 
•  ••••• 

"  That  man  can't  be  prevail'd  upon 
Tho'  with  our  strong  desire, 
To  get  prepar'd  against  the  Day 

When  all  the  World  on  Fire 
Shall  burn  and  blaze  about'their  Heads, 
And  they  no  Shelter  have ; 


118  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

No  Rock  to  hide  their  guilty  Heads, 

No,  nor  no  wateiy  Grave. 
For  Rocks  will  melt  like  Wax  away 

Before  the  dreadful  Heat, 
And  EartH  and  Sea  and  all  will  flame 

In  one  consuming  Heap. 
The  Earth  beneath  abounds  with  Stores 

Of  Oils  and  Sulphurs  too, 
And  Turfs  and  Coals,  which  all  will  Flame, 

When  God  commands  the  blow. 
The  flaming  Lightning  which  we  see 

Around  the  Heavens  run, 
Do  livelily  now  represent 

The  Conflagration. 
Those  flaming  magazines  of  God 

Have  fire  enough  in  store, 
And  only  wait  their  Lord's  commands 

To  let  us  feel  their  power. 
When  once  receiv'd  the}'  then  will  run, 

They'll  run  from  Pole  to  Pole, 
And  all  the  strength  of  Earth  and  Hell 

Cannot  their  power  controle. 
Justly  may  we  now  stand  amaz'd, 

At  God's  abundant  Grace, 
To  think  so  base  and  vile  a  World 

Is  not  all  in  a  Blaze  ; 
When  far  the  greatest  part  thereof 

Are  poor  vile  Infidels, 
Among  the  Christian  part  thereof 

Are  sins  as  black  as  Hell." 

In  conclusion,  these  "precious  souls"  are  entreated 
to  join  with  one  accord 

"  In  praising  of  the  Holy  Name, 
Of  the  Eternal  God." * 


POPULAR   PURITAN   LITERATURE.  119 

Earthquakes  were  at  one  time  rather  common  in 
New  England,  but  nothing  to  be  compared  to  their 
frequency  in  England.  It  is  said  that  in  what  is 
called  the  "  mobile  district,"  of  Comrie,  in  Perthshire, 
during  the  winter  of  1839  and  1840,  they  had  one 
hundred  and  forty  earthquakes,  being  at  the  rate  of 
about  one  shock  a  day  on  an  average  ;  "  and  it  is  added, 
"They  seldom  do  much  harm." 

The  following  is  a  memorandum,  probably  nearly 
correct  and  complete,  of  earthquakes  experienced  in 
Boston,  between  the  years  1636  and  1817;  and  it 
may  be  considered  fortunate  that  they  were  not  all 
commemorated  by  Puritan  poets. 

1638.  June  1.     Great  earthquake  in  Boston. 

1639.  Jan.  16.     Another  earthquake. 

1643.  March  5.     Sunday  morning  another  earthquake. 

1658.  A  great  earthquake. 

1663.  Jan.  26.     Very  great  earthquake. 

1669.  April  3.     An  earthquake. 

1727.  Oct.  29.     An  earthquake. 

1730.  April  12.     An  earthquake. 

1732.  Sept.  5.     An  earthquake. 

1737.  Feb.  6.     An  earthquake. 

1744.  June  3.     The  earthquake  commemorated. 

1755.  Nov.  18.  A  very  great  earthquake.  About 
one  hundred  chimneys  thrown  down,  and  other  damage. 

1757.  July  8.     An  earthquake. 

1761.  March  12.     An  earthquake. 

1761.  Nov.  1.     An  earthquake. 

1782.  Nov.  29.     An  earthquake. 

1783.  Nov.  29.     An  earthquake. 
1800.  March  11.     An  earthquake. 
1810.  Nov.  9.     An  earthquake. 
1817.  Sept.  7.     An  earthquake. 


120  CURIOSITIES    OF    HISTORY. 


DEBORAH:    A   BEE. 

Another  broadside  sheet,  some  seven  by  twelve,  is 
entitled  as  above,  and  divided  into  paragraphs,  num- 
bered from  one  to  twenty,  in  prose.  It  is  a  sort  of 
sermon  in  which  the  Christian  is  compared  to  the 
Bee,  or  perhaps  placed  in  competition  with  the  in- 
dustrious and  self-supporting  insect.  Its  positions, 
omitting  most  of  the  applications,  are  these:  The  bee 
is  a  laborious,  diligent  creature ;  so  is  the  Chri>tian. 
The  bee  is  a  provident  creature ;  so  is  the  Christian. 
The  bee  feeds  on  the  sweetest  and  choicest  foods ; 
so  does  the  Christian.  The  bee  puts  all  into  the 
common  stock ;  so  is  the  Christian  of  a  generous, 
communicative  temper.  The  bee  is  always  armed;  so 
is  the  Christian  with  respect  to  his  spiritual  armor. 
Bees  are  a  sort  of  commonwealth;  so  Christians  are 
likened  to  a  city  that  is  compacted  together.  The 
bee,  as  it  always  has  a  bag  of  honey,  has  also  a  bag 
of  rank  poison ;  so  has  the  Christian,  with  the  grace 
of  God,  a  body  of  sin  and  corruption,  &c.  Lastly, 
the  bee  lies  dormant  all  winter ;  so  the  Christian 
sometimes  slumbers,  &c.  "  Yet  the  hour  is  coming 
when  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  awake  and  come 
forth,  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life ;  but  alas,  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto 
the  resurrection  of  damnation  !"  Sold  by  Kneeland 
&  Green,  in  Queen  Street.  Illustrated  with  a  small 
fanciful  engraving  of  a  bee-hive,  surrounded  with 
horns  of  plenty  and  decorative  carving. 


POPULAR   PURITAN   LITERATURE.  121 


PROPOSED   POPISH   INVASION. 

Every  thing  which  occurred  in  England,  or  else- 
where, in  fact,  having  any  reference  to  Popery,  how- 
ever remote,  was  sure  to  interest  the  Puritans,  and 
demand  their  attention ;  and,  it  would  seem,  was 
sometimes  provocative  of  poetry.  So  when  the 
"  happy  discovery  of  a  cursed  plot  against  the  church 
of  God,  Great  Britain  and  her  King,"  was  announced 
by  the  King,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1743  (i.e.,  1744), 
a  large  hand-bill  was  issued  from  the  Boston  press,  to 
which  the  printer  did  not  put  his  name,  headed, 
"  Good  news  from  London,  to  the  rejoicing  of  every 
christian  heart."  This  was  the  discovery  of  the 
plot  "for  bringing  in  a  young  Popish  pretender." 
The  news  was  received  by  an  arrival  at  Portsmouth, 
N.H.,  in  twenty-six  days  from  England,  and  included 
the  message  of  the  King  to  Parliament.  The  hand- 
bill contained  the  message  in  which  the  King  declares 
that  '-having  received  undoubted  intelligence  that 
the  eldest  son  of  the  pretender  to  his  crown  is  arrived 
in  France,  and  that  preparations  are  making  there  to 
invade  this  kingdom,  in  concert  with  disaffected  per- 
sons here,"  &c,  his  Majesty  acquaints  the  House  of 
the  matter  in  order  that  measures  may  be  taken,  &c. 

This  is  followed  by  a  long  anonymous  poem,  be- 
ginning, — 

"  Behold  the  French  and  Spaniards  rage, 
And  people  with  accord 
Combine,  to  take  away  the  life 
Of  George,  our  sovereign  lord. 


122  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

"  When  George  the  first  came  to  the  throne, 
Their  rage  began  to  burn, 
And  now  they  fain  would  execute 
The  same  upon  his  son. 

"  Their  hellish  breast  being  set  on  fire, 
Even  with  the  fire  of  Hell, 
Nor  Love,  nor  charms,  nor  clemency, 
Can  their  base  malice  quell." 


And  so  on  through  three  columns,  and  then  comes 
the 

CONCLUSION. 

"  Let  all  that  openly  profess, 

The  ways  of  Christ  our  Lord, 
Not  spare  to  tell  how  much  such  things 
Are  b}7  their  souls  abhor' d. 

"  Let  ever}-  child  of  God  now  cry, 
To  the  eternal  one, 
That  George  our  sovereign  lord  and  king 
May  ne'er  be  overcome. 

"  That  all  his  Foes  ma}'  lick  the  Dust, 
And  melt  like  Wax  awa}~, 
That  jo}'  and  peace  and  righteousness 
May  flourish  in  his  day." 

The  proposed  expedition,  it  is  well  known,  never 
landed  in  England.  The  combined  fleet  escaped  an 
engagement,  and  the  transports  were  wrecked  .and 
scattered  by  a  storm  in  the  English  Channel. 


POPULAR   PURITAN   LITERATURE.  123 


THE   SCOTTISH   REBELLION. 

"  A  short  history  of  the  Grand  Rebellion  in  Scot- 
land, or  a  brief  account  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 
Charles  Stuart,  the  young  pretender,  and  his  associ- 
ates ;  and  his  seasonable  defeat  by  His  Majesty's 
Forces  under  the  command  of  His  Royal  Highness 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland." 

This  remarkable  production  is  printed  on  one  side 
of  a  single  sheet  of  paper,  seven  by  twelve,  in  verse, 
three  columns.     It  begins,  — 

"  From  Rome  the  proud  Pretender's  come 
Flush'd  with  conceits  of  Britain's  Crown, 
Imagining,  poor  silly  Lad, 
Those  glorious  Kingdoms  to  have  had, 
And  all  the  churches  of  the  Lord, 
They've  roll'd  in  seas  of  Purple  Blood  ; 
His  grand  commission  from  the  Pope 
Was  Fire,  Faggot,  Sword,  and  Rope, 
Or  Boots,  or  Scourges,  Cord  and  Whips, 
For  all  poor  vile  Hereticks." 

The  poet  proceeds  with,  the  landing  in  Scotland, 
where  the  Popish  priest  demised  to  him  the  land; 
the  joining  of  the  disaffected,  the  robbing  of  the 
people :  — 

' '  They  range  about  and  seek  for  pre}7- 
Nor  spare  aught  comes  in  their  way ; 
They  murder,  steal,  rob  and  destroy, 
And  many  a  goodly  Town  annoy." 

Flushed  with  victory,  they  move  toward  England, 
"  and  now  to  London  drive  along." 


124  CURIOSITIES    OF   HIST  OK  Y. 


tt 


Which  brave  Prince  William  quickly  hears 
And  without  an}'  Dread  or  Fears, 
Pursues  the  Rebels  in  full  chase, 
And  lo,  thej'  fly  before  his  Grace, 
Who  still  pursues  and  overtakes, 
And  many  a  Highland  captive  makes. 

The  rest  now  fly,  won't  stand  to  Fight, 
But  back  to  Scotland  make  their  flight, 
And  there  like  Beasts  who've  furious  grown 
The}'  range  about  from  Town  to  Town. 

But  Heaven  beheld  these  blood}'  men, 
No  longer  now  would  bear  with  them, 
Inspires  the  Duke  of  Cumberland 
To  take  the  work  into  his  hand, 
To  scourge  this  cursed  barbarous  Brood 
For  all  their  Rapine,  Stealth,  and  Blood. 
Away  he  goes,  post  haste  he  flies, 
To  face  the  raging  Enemies, 
To  Scotland,  where  the  wretches  fled, 
When  chas'd  from  Carlisle,  full  of  dread, 
Where  being  come,  his  troops  combine, 
And  all  in  lovely  Consort  join, 
And  strong  Desires  do  now  express, 
To  slay  these  Sons  of  Wickedness. 
Great  Joy  and  Gladness  now  was  shown, 
When  to  the  Folk  it  was  made  known 
That  Cumberland,  the  brave,  was  come 
To  save  them  from  expected  Ruin." 
The  people  joining  the  Duke,  the  enemy  was  pur- 
sued, when  — 

' '  A  church  in  which  their  stores  did  lay, 
They  blow'd  up  ere  they  ran  away." 


POPULAR   PURITAN   LITERATURE.  125 

after  they  had  bid  the  people  enter  in,  and  many 
"  precious  souls  at  one  sad  Blast,  into  eternity  are 
cast." 

"  But  hard  beset  by  British  force 

The}'  dare  not  stay,  or  they'd  do  worse ; 
Some  fly  to  mountains,  some  to  dales, 
When  all  their  hellish  Courage  fails. 

Flying  I  leave  them,  'till  we  hear 
The  end  of  this  most  blood}*  war. 

For  which  the  thankful  folk  proclaim 
Thanksgivings  to  the  Almighty  name, 
And  may  we  all  now  join  with  them, 
And  to  their  Thanks  join  our  Amen." 

Sold  by  B.  Gray,  near  the  market.     Without  date ; 
printed  in  1744. 


XII. 
REVOLUTIONARY  PROCLAMATIONS. 


Gen".  Gage's  administration  of  less  than  a  }^ear 
and  a  half  in  the  "  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay," 
for  he  never  had  any  government  over  the  province 
other  than  military,  was  prolific  in  proclamations, 
some  of  which  are  rather  curious.  On  the  1st  of 
June,  1774,  by  order  of  Parliament  and  the  King, 
Boston  Harbor  was  closed  and  possessed  by  ships  of 
the  British  navy.  Nothing  could  enter  or  leave  the 
port :  wood  as  fuel  could  not  be  brought  from  the 
islands,  or  merchandise  or  lumber  removed  from 
wharf  to  wharf  by  water;  nothing  whatever  could 
be  water  borne  within  a  circle  of  sixty  miles,  either 
to  arrive  or  depart.  At  the  same  time  British  troops 
held  the  town ;  and  the  government,  such  as  it  was, 
was  removed  to  Salem,  where  the  General  Court  re- 
assembled on  the  7th  of  June.  At  this  session,  on  the 
17th,  as  the  result  of  arrangements  made  by  Samuel 
Adams  and  his  fellow-patriots,  five  delegates  were 
chosen  to  represent  the  colony  in  the  proposed  Con- 
tinental Congress,  at  Philadelphia.  As  soon  as  these 
proceedings,  while  yet  in  progress,  reached  Gen. 
Gage's  ears  by  a  tricky  tory,  who  got  out  of  the  hall 

126 


KEVOLTTTIONABY  PROCLAMATIONS.  127 

by  feigning  a  call  of  nature,  he  issued  his  first  procla- 
mation, which  Mr.  Secretary  Flucker,  as  he  found 
the  door  locked  and  could  not  get  into  the  chamber, 
had  to  read  on  the  stairs,  as  follows :  — 

"Province  of  Massachusetts-Bat. 

By  the  GOVERNOR. 
"  a  proclamation  for  dissolving  the  General-Court. 

"  WHEREAS  the  Proceedings  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  the  present  Session  of  the  General  Court,  make  it  neces- 
sary, for  his  Majesty's  Service,  that  the  said  General  Court 
should  be  dissolved:  — 

"I  have  therefore  thought  fit  to  dissolve  the  said  General 
Court,  and  the  same  is  hereby  dissolved  accordingly,  and  the 
Members  thereof  are  discharged  from  any  further  Attendance. 

"  GIVEN  under  my  Hand  at  Salem,  the  17th  Day  of  June, 
1774,  in  the  Fourteenth  Year  of  his  Majesty's  Reign. 
By  his  Excellency's  Command,  )  rp     n  a  n-n 
Tho's  Flucker,  Secretary.      > 

"GOD    SAVE    THE    KING." 

Gen.  Gage's  next  proclamation  was  against  the  ex- 
istence of  the  famous  "  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence," which  Samuel  Adams  had  originated,  and  the 
" solemn  league  and  covenant "  "to  suspend  all  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  the  island  of  Great  Britain," 
&c.  And  "in  tenderness  to  the  inhabitants  of  this 
province,"  he  issued  this  proclamation  of  warning. 

Then,  as  if  to  cap  the  climax  of  pretension  and 
folly,  not  to  say  hypocrisy,  on  the  25th  of  July,  while 
he  relied  upon  the  counsels  and  efforts  of  the  tory 
party,  issued  what  may  be  called  a  very  curious  procla- 
mation, such  as  possibly,  under  some  circumstances, 
might  have  been  issued  by  Gov.  Endicott,  in  the 


128  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

early  clays  of  New  England  Puritanism  ;  but  the  Puri- 
tans had  long  before  this  time  passed  out  of  power. 
The  following  is  the  proclamation  :  — 

MASSACHUSETTS    BAY. 

By  the  GOVERNOR.     A  PROCLAMATION. 

For  the  Encouragement  of  Piety,  and  Virtue,  and  for  preventing 
and  punishing  of  vice,  profanity  and  immorality. 

IN  humble  imitation  of  the  laudable  example  of  our  most 
gracious  sovereign  George  the  third,  who  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign  was  pleased  to  issue  his  Royal  proclamation  for  the 
encouragement  of  piety  and  virtue,  and  for  preventing  of  vice 
and  immorality,  in  which  he  declares  his  royal  purpose  to  punish 
all  persons  guilty  thereof  ;  and  upon  all  occasions  to  bestow 
marks  of  his  royal  favor  on  persons  distinguished  for  their  piety 
and  virtue : 

"  I  therefore,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  his  Majesty's  Council, 
publish  this  proclamation,  exhorting  all  his  Majesty's  subjects 
to  avoid  all  hypocrisy,  sedition,  licentiousness,  and  all  other 
immoralities,  and  to  have  a  grateful  sense  of  all  God's  mercies, 
■making  the  divine  laws  the  rule  of  their  conduct. 

"  1  therefore  command  aft  Judges,  Justices,  Sheriffs,  and  other 
Officers,  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  enforce  the  laws  for 
promoting  religion  and  virtue,  and  restraining  all  vice  and  sedi- 
tion ;  and  I  earnestly  recommend  to  all  ministers  of  the  gospel 
that  they  be  vigilant  and  active  in  inculcating  a  due  submission 
to  the  laws  of  God  and  man  ;  and  I  exhort  all  the  people  of 
this  province,  by  every  means  in  their  power,  to  contribute  what 
they  can  towards  a  general  reformation  of  manners,  restitution 
of  peace  and  good  order,  and  a  proper  subjection  to  the  laws, 
as  they  expect  the  blessing  of  Heaven. 

"  And  I  do  further  declare,  that  in  the  disposal  of  the  offices 
of  honor  and  trust,  within  this  province,  the  supporters  of  true 
religion  and  good  government  shall  be  considered  as  the  fittest 
objects  of  such  appointments. 

"  And  I  hereby  require  the  Justices  of  assize,  and  Justicesof 
the  peace  in  this  province,  to  give  strict  charge  to  the  grand 


REVOLUTIONARY   PROCLAMATIONS.  129 

Jurors  for  the  prosecution  of  offenders  against  the  laws:  and 
that,  in  their  several  courts  they  cause  this  proclamation  to  he 
publickly  read  immediately  before  the  charge  is  given. 

"  GIVEN  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Salem,  the  21st  day  of 
July,  1774,  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign 
Lord  GEORGE  the  Third  by  the  Grace  of  GOD  of  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  8fc. 

"  Thomas  Gage. 
"  By  his  Excellency's  Command, 
Tuos.  Flucker,  Secry. 

"GOD  save  the  KING." 

The  gist  of  the  proclamation,  which  was  specially 
intended  for  the  people  of  Boston,  for  whose  benefit 
the  words  "  sedition  and  hypocrisy  "  were  used,  was 
in  the  phrase,  "  submission  to  the  laws  of  God  and 
many  This  proclamation  was  not  like  the  previous 
one,  directed  to  the  sheriffs  ;  nor  was  it  ordered  to  be 
posted  in  the  several  towns  of  the  province;  nor 
was  it  ordered  to  be  read  from  the  pulpits  of  the 
churches ;  but  the  justices  of  the  courts  and  grand 
juries  were  to  see  to  its  observance.  It  was,  in  fact, 
a  mere  piece  of  gasconade  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernor, in  imitation  of  his  Majesty  very  likely  ;  but, 
like  the  others,  nobody  either  observed  it  or  trou- 
bled themselves  about  it ;  and  it  has  very  rarely 
been  spoken  of  since,  if  at  all,  by  any  historian.  How- 
ever it  may  be  characterized,  it  simply  had  the  effect 
to  exasperate  the  minds  of  the  people,  owing  to  the 
insertion  of  hypocrisy  among  the  immoralities.1  The 
proclamation  itself,  as  they  thought,  was  the  boldest 
piece  of  political  hypocrisy  the  government  had  yet 
perpetrated.      It   was   much   like  every   thing   else 

1  Gordon's  History,  Vol.  I.,  p.  253. 


130  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

which  the  king,  ministry,  or  governor  had  clone  from 
the  time  of  the  stamp-act,  and  had  a  tendency  to 
make  matters  worse  instead  of  better. 

Gen.  Gage's  proclamation  of  the  12th  of  June,  1775, 
offering  pardon  to  all  who  shall  lay  down  their  arms, 
&c,  is  well  known.     It  begins,  — 

"  Whereas  the  infatuated  multitude  who  have 
suffered  themselves  to  be  conducted  by  certain  well- 
known  incendiaries  and  traitors  in  a  fatal  progression 
of  crimes  against  the  constitutional  authority  of  the 
state,  have  at  length  proceeded  to  avowed  rebellion," 
&c.  ..."  A  number  of  armed  persons  to  the 
amount  of  many  thousands  assembled  on  the  19th  of 
April,"  &c.  "  In  this  exigency  I  avail  myself  of  the 
last  effort,"  and  thereupon  offers  "  a  full  pardon  to 
all  who  shall  lay  down  their  arms,  excepting  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock,  whose  offences  are  of  too 
flagitious  a  nature  to  admit  of  any  other  consider- 
tion  than  that  of  condign  punishment,"  &c. 

The  proclamation  was  probably  written  by  Gen. 
Burgoyne,  and  so  little  attention  was  paid  to  it  that 
the  army  continued  intact  at  Cambridge,  and  in 
exactly  one  week  from  its  date  occurred  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  which  proved  so  "fatal"  to  more 
than  a  thousand  British  soldiers.  In  less  than  four 
months  after  this  time  Gen.  Gage  "laid  down  his 
arms  "  and  returned  to  England ;  and  a  few  months 
later,  in  March,  1776,  the  army  and  the  navy  followed 
his  example  and  left  the  country,  taking  the  "  Port 
Act"  with  them,  but  leaving  for  the  use  of  the 
colony,  arms,  ammunition,  provisions,  and  even  medi- 
cal stores. 


xirr. 
CURIOSITIES  OF  THE  MARKET. 


"  The  turnpike  road  to  people's  hearts,  I  find 
Lies  through  their  mouths,  or  I  mistake  mankind." 

[Peter  Pindar. 

After  arriving  at  Mishawarn,  and  voting  the 
church  and  that  the  minister  should  be  supported  at 
the  common  charge,  it  became  necessary  to  think  of 
providing  in  some  way  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
party.  Although  Gov.  Winthrop,  when  he  arrived 
ofT  the  harbor,  went  up  to  Salem  in  a  boat,  and  was 
handsomely  entertained  by  Gov.  Endicott,  whom  he 
came  to  displace,  with  a  rich  venison  pate,  such  fare 
was  not  afterwards  found  to  be  very  plenty ;  and  the 
strawberries,  which  those  he  left  on  board  the  ships 
found  on  Cape  Ann,  were  not  always  to  be  had,  nor 
a  very  substantial  food  for  the  settlers.  Of  course, 
the  party  had  a  supply  of  provisions,  —  a  market  of 
their  own  which  they  brought  with  them ;  and,  as 
nobody  could  become  a  freeman  or  have  a  vote  in 
public  affairs  unless  he  was  a  member  of  the  church, 
it  is  to  be  inferred  that  nobody  would  be  allowed 
any  thing  to  eat  only  on  the  same  condition  ;  and  this, 
if  Peter  Pindar  was  right,  was  a  facile  method  of  con- 
version and  making  disciples  of  the  most  obdurate. 
Hunting  and  fishing  were  no  doubt  readily  resorted 

131 


132  CURIOSITIES    OF   HISTORY. 

to  as  rather  promising  pursuits,  and  possibly  some 
thought  may  have  been  given  to  cornfields,  though 
there  was  no  great  anxiety  for  work.  At  all  events, 
however  successful  the  hunting  parties  were,  so 
much  of  their  supply  of  provisions  was  bartered  with 
the  Indians  for  furs  that  a  scarcity  of  food  was  soon 
experienced,  and  then  they  had  to  buy  corn  of  them. 
Matters  soon  became  serious:  for  whatever  might 
have  been  the  primary  object  of  the  Puritans  in  com- 
ing to  this  country,  eating  was  not  beyond  a  second- 
ary consideration,  to  say  the  least  of  it ;  and  a  market 
of  supplies  for  the  material  man  became  an  impor- 
tant consideration  then,  and  has  been  so  ever  since. 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  loved  a  good  dinner  and  rarely 
found  it  at  home,  thought  "a  tavern  was  the  throne 
of  human  felicity;"  but,  of  course,  such  a  notion  as 
that  never  entered  the  minds  of  the  Puritans. 

The  first  thanksgiving  was  for  the  safe  arrival  of 
the  party,  and  the  next  was  for  the  arrival  of  the 
"Lion,"  or  some  other  ship,  with  a  supply  of  food; 
and  this,  it  is  supposed,  was  not  bartered  off  for  furs. 
Indian  corn,  which  was  a  new  thing  to  the  settlers, 
was  for  a  long  time  the  principal  diet,  occasionally 
modified  with  fish  ;  but  the  truth  is,  how  the  settlers 
managed  to  live  through  all  this  time,  in  such  a  cli- 
mate, up  to  the  times  that  we  know  something  about, 
is  a  complete  mystery. 

Capt.  Roger  Clapp,  who  arrived  at  Hull  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1630,  about  a  fortnight  before  Gov.  Win- 
throp  arrived  at  Salem,  and  who  died  in  1690-91, 
described  the  state  of  things  "in  those  days,"  in  the 
following  words :  — 


ANIMALS,   BIRDS,   AND   FISHES.  133 

"  It  was  not  accounted  a  strange  thing  in  those  Days  to  drink 
Water,  and  to  eat  Samp  or  Hominie  without  Butter  or  Milk. 
Indeed,  it  would  have  been  a  strange  thing  to  see  a  piece  of 
Roast  Beef,  Mutton  or  Veal ;  though  it  was  not  long  before  there 
was  Roast  Goat.  After  the  first  Winter,  we  were  very  Healthy; 
though  some  of  us  had  no  great  Store  of  Corn.  The  Indians 
did  sometimes  bring  Corn,  and  Truck  with  us  for  Cloathing  and 
Knives  ;  and  once  I  had  a  Peck  of  Corn  or  thereabouts,  for  a 
little  Puppy-Dog.  Frost-fish,  Muscles  and  Clams  were  a  Relief 
to  many." 

ANIMALS,    BIRDS,   AND   FISHES. 

Wood,  in  his  famous  "New  England's  Prospect," 
gives  some  particulars  about  game  and  hunting 
among  the  early  settlers  in  1639:  — 

"  Having  related  unto  you  the  pleasant  situation  of  the  country, 
the  healthfulness  of  the  climate,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  with 
his  vegetatives,  and  other  commodities;  it  will  not  be  amiss  to 
inform  you  of  such  irrational  creatures  as  are  daily  bred,  and 
continually  nourished  in  this  country,  which  do  much  conduce 
to  the  well-being  of  the  inhabitants,  affording  not  only  meat 
for  the  belly,  but  cloathing  for  the  back.  The  beasts  be  as 
followeth :  — 

"  The  kingly  Lion,  and  the  strong  arm'd  Bear, 
The  large  limb'd  Mooses,  with  the  tripping  Deer; 
Quill-darting  Porcupines,  and  Raccoons  be 
Castel'd  in  the  hollow  of  an  aged  tree; 
The  skipping  Squirrel,  Rabbet,  purblind  Hare, 
Immured  in  the  self  same  castle  are, 
Lest  red-ey'd  Ferret,  wily  Foxes  should 
Them  undermine,  if  rampir'd  but  with  mould; 
The  grim-fac'd  Ounce,  and  rav'nous  howling  Wolf, 
Whose  meagre  paunch  sucks  like  a  swallowing  gulf; 
Black  glistering  Otters,  and  rich  coated  Bever, 
The  Civet  scented  Musquash  smelling  ever." 


134  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 


WHAT   BEFELL   A   HUNTER. 

"  Two  men  going  a  fowling,  appointed  at  evening  to  meet  at 
a  certain  pond  side,  to  share  equally,  and  to  return  home;  one  of 
these  gunners  having  killed  a  Seal  or  Sea-calf,'  brought  it  to  the 
pond  where  he  was  to  meet  his  comrade,  afterwards  returning 
to  the  sea-side  for  more  game,  and  having  loaded  himself  with 
more  Geese  and  Ducks  he  repaired  to  the  pond,  where  he  saw  a 
great  Bear  feeding  on  his  seal,  which  caused  him  to  throw  down 
his  load,  and  give  the  Bear  a  salute  ;  which  though  it  was  but 
with  goose-shot,  yet  tumbled  him  over  and  over  ;  whereupon 
the  man  supposing  him  to  be  in  a  manner  dead,  ran  and  beat 
him  with  the  handle  of  his  gun.  The  Bear  perceiving  him  to 
be  such  a  coward  to  strike  him  when  he  was  down,  scrambled 
up,  standing  at  defiance  with  him,  scratching  his  legs,  tearing 
his  cloaths  and  face,  who  stood  it  out  till  his  six  foot  gun  was 
broken  in  the  middle  ;  then  beiig  deprived  of  his  weapon,  he 
ran  up  to  the  shoulders  into  the  pond,  where  he  remained  till 
the  Bear  was  gone,  and  his  mate  come  in,  who  accompanied 
him  home." 

The  author  gives  a  peculiar  description  of  the 
animals  named.  Of  the  lion,  he  says  he  had  never 
seen  one;  but  others  "lost  in  the  woods  have  heard 
such  terrible  roarings  as  have  made  them  much 
agast :  which  must  be  either  Devils  or  Lions ; "  so 
lions  have  it.  The  moose  "is  as' big  as  an  ox,  slow 
of  foot,  headed  like  a  Buck,  with  a  broad  beam,  some 
being  two  yards  wide  in  the  head;  their  flesh  is  as 
good  as  beef,  their  hides  good  for  cloathing."  He 
describes  deer,  rabbits,  squirrels,  &c.  The  small 
squirrel  troubles  the  planters  so,  that  they  have  "  to 
carry  their  Cats  into  the  corn-fields  till  their  corn  be 
three  weeks  old."  "  The  beasts  of  offence  be  Squncks, 
Ferrets,  Foxes,  whose  impudence  sometimes  diverts 
them   to   the   good   Wives   Hen-roost,   to   fill   their 


ANIMALS,   BIBDS,    AND   FISHES.  135 

paunch."  He  gives  a  fearful  account  of  the  wolves, 
which  set  on  swine,  goats,  calves,  &c,  and  care  noth- 
ing for  a  dog. 

Equally  curious  with  these  are  his  descriptions  of 
the  "  beasts  living  in  the  water,"  as  the  otter,  mus- 
quash, &c.r  and  of  "  the  birds  and  fowls,  both  of 
land  and  water." 

"The  princely  Eagle,  and' the  soaring  Hawk, 
Whom  in  their  unknown  wa}~s  there's  none  can  chalk ; 
The  Humbird  for  some  Queen's  rich  cage  more  fit, 
Than  in  the  vacant  wilderness  to. sit ; 
The  swift-winged  Swallow  sweeping  to  and  fro, 
As  swift  as  arrows  from  Tartarian  bow  ; 
When  as  Aurora's  infant  day  new  springs, 
There  th'  morning  mounting  Lark  her  swreet  lays  sings  ; 
The  harmonious  Thrush,  swift  Pigeon,  Turtle  Dove, 
Who  to  her  mate  does  ever  constant  prove  ; 
The  Turkey-pheasant,  Heathcock,  Partridge  rare, 
The  carrion-tearing  Crow,  and  hurtful  Stare." 

The  raven,  screech-owl,  heron,  cormorant,  and  so 
on  to  geese,  gulls,  mallards,  teal,  ducks,  snipes,  and 
many  others.     The  fish  also  are  rehearsed  in  verse :  — 

"  The  king  of  waters,  the  sea-shouldering  Whale, 
The  snuffing  Grampus,,  with  the  oily  Seal ; 
The  storm-presaging  Porpus,  Herring-Hog, 
Line  shearing  Shark,  the  Catfish,  and  Sea  Dog; 
The  scale-fenc'd  Sturgeon,  wry-mouth' d  Hollibut, 
The  flouncing  Salmon,  Codfish,  Greedigut ; 
Cole,  Haddick,  Hake,  the  Thornback,  and  the  Scate, 
Whose  Slinry  outside  makes  him  seld'  in  date ; 
The  stately  Bass,  old  Neptune's  fleeting  post, 
That  tides  it  out  and  in  from  sea  to  coast ; 


136  CURIOSITIES   OF  HISTOPwY. 

Consorting  Herrings,  and  the  bony  Shad, 
Big-bellied  Alewives,  Maekrels  richly  clad 
With  rainbow  colour,  the  Frostfish  and  the  Smelt, 
As  good  as  ever  Lady  Gustns  felt ; 
The  spotted  Lamprons,  Eels,  the  Lamperies, 
That  seek  fresh-water  brooks  with  Argus  eyes  ; 
These  watery  villagers,  with  thousands  more, 
Do  pass  and  repass  near  the  verdant  shore." 

KINDS    OF    SHELL-FISH. 

"  The  luscious  Lobster,  with  the  Crabfish  raw, 
The  brinish  Oyster,  Muscle,  Perriwig, 
And  Tortoise  fought  by  the  Indian's  Squaw, 
Which  to  the  flats  dance  many  a  winter's  jig, 
To  dive  for  Cockles,  and  to  dig  for  Clams, 
Whereby  her  lazy  husband's  guts  she  crams.' ' 

It  was  recommended  to  those  who  came  over  after 
Winthrop,  to  bring  with  them  a  hogshead  and  a  half 
of  meal,  "to  keep  him  until  he  may  receive  the  fruit 
of  his  own  labors,  which  will  be  a  year  and  a  half 
after  his  arrival,  if  he  land  in  May  or  June."  Also, 
"malt,  beef,  butter,  cheese,  pease,  good  wines,  vine- 
gar, and  strong  waters ;  "  and  in  addition,  a  variety 
of  clothing,  boots,  shoes,  implements,  iron  wares, 
stew-pans,  warming-pans,  fish-hooks,  and  every  con- 
ceivable thing  for  use  or  labor,  being  assured  that 
whatever  they  did  not  want,  could  be  disposed  of  at 
a  profit. 

MARKET   SUPPLIES. 

One  of  the  earliest  accounts  of  the  market  supplies 
in  Boston  -  is  that  written  by  a  French  refugee  in 
1687,  —  almost  two  hundred  years  ago.     He  says,  — 


FAMILY  BILL  OF   FARE.  137 

"  An  ox  costs  from  twelve  to  fifteen  crowns;  a  Cow,  eight 
to  ten;  Horses,  from  ten  to  fifty  Crowns,  and  in  Plenty.  There 
are  even  wild  ones  in  the  Woods,  which  are  yours  if  you  can 
catch  them.  Foals  are  sometimes  caught.  Beef  costs  Two 
pence  the  Pound;  Mutton,  Two  pence;  Pork,  from  two  to  three 
pence,  according  to  the  Season ;  Flour,  Fourteen  shillings  the  one 
hundred  and  twelve  Pound,  all  bolted;  Fish  is  very  cheap,  and 
Vegetables  also;  Cabbage,  Turnips,  Onions,  and  Carrots  abound 
here.  Moreover,  there  are  quantities  of  Nuts,  Chestnuts,  and 
Hazelnuts  wild.  These  nuts  are  small,  but  of  wonderful  flavor. 
I  have  been  told  that  there  are  other  Sorts,  which  we  shall  see 
in  the  Season.  I  am  assured  that  the  Woods  are  full  of  Straw- 
berries in  the  Season.  I  have  seen  Quantities  of  wild  Grape- 
vine, and  eaten  Grapes  of  very  good  Flavor,  kept  by  one  of  my 
friends.  There  is  no  Doubt  that  the  Vine  will  do  well ;  there  is 
some  little  planted  in  the  country  which  has  grown.  The  Rivers 
are  full  of  Fish,  and  we  have  so  great  a  Quantity  of  Sea  and 
River  Fish  that  no  Account  is  made  of  them." 

It  is  pretty  certain  that  these  things  have  been 
so  ever  since. 

FAMILY  BILL   OF   FARE. 

A  later  account  than  this,  however,  and  one  with 
which  some  who  are  now  living  may  be  more  or  less 
familiar,  or  have  heard  of,  is  given  as  follows :  — 

"The  ordinary  food  of  the  early  settlers  here,  for  both 
breakfast  and  supper,  was  bean  porridge,  with  bread  and  butter. 
On  Sunday  morning  there  was  coffee  in  addition.  Brown 
bread,  made  of  rye  and  Indian,  was  the  staff  of  life,  white 
bread  being  used  only  when  guests  were  present.  Baked  pump- 
kins (in  their  season)  and  milk  composed  a  dish  said  to  be  lux- 
urious. [This  dish  is  in  common  use  among  the  country  people 
at  the  present  time.]  For  dinner,  twice  every  week,  Sundays 
and  Thursdays,  baked  beans  and  baked  Indian  pudding,  the 
latter  being  served  first.  [This  last  custom  has  gone  wholly  out 
of  practice ;  but  the   Sunday  dinner  prevails  to-day  over   the 


138  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

whole  of  New  England,  to  a  very  large  extent.]  Saturdays, 
salt  fish;  one  day  in  every  week,  salt  pork  and  corned  beef,  and 
one  day,  also,  when  practicable,  roasted  meat  was  the  rule." 

It  is  surprising  how  continuously  some  of  these 
customs  have  been  kept  up  and  prevail. 

SEARCHING  FOR   PROVISIONS. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  provisions  have  been 
scarce  in  Boston,  at  times,  since  the  days  of  the 
Puritans,  hardly  now  to  be  realized.  Long  before  the 
Revolutionary  period,  in  1711,  during  one  of  the  wars 
between  France  and  England,  Admiral  Sir  Hovender 
Walker,  with  a  fleet  of  fifteen  men-of-war,  and  forty 
transports  with  upwards  of  five  thousand  men,  ar- 
rived in  the  harbor  on  his  way  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
River,  for  the  protection  of  Canada.  He  wanted  to 
victual  his  ships,  and  applied  to  Capt.  Belcher  (father 
of  Gov.  Jonathan  Belcher),  a  rich  and  leading  man, 
as  being  the  only  person  who  could  undertake  the 
service,  and  he  declined  it.  Next  to  Mr.  Andrew 
Faneuil,  and  he  undertook  it.  Provisions  were  scarce 
and  the  price  put  up,  so  that  a  supply  could  not  be 
had,  and  the  governor  was  compelled  to  issue  an 
"order  for  searching  for  provisions."  The  men,  dur- 
ing the  stay  of  the  fleet,  were  in  camp  at  Noddle's 
Island,  and  it  is  said  that  a  formidable  number  of 
them  deserted. 

CONCLUSION. 

We  have  thus  travelled  over  some  of  the  old 
avenues,  ways,  customs,  and  things,  peaceful  and 
warlike,  more  or  less  in  connection  with   the  early 


CONCLUSION.  139 

settlement,  the  mature  town,  and  the  gorgeous  city, 
from  1630  to  1880 ;  from  the  period  of  scarcity  and 
deprivation  to  that  of  prosperity  and  abundance. 
The  task  has  been  delightful,  and  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  ways  and  doings,  and  we  may  almost 
say  the  undoings,  of  the  Puritans,  the  town  which 
they  planted  and  the  principles  they  promulgated, 
rather  than  the  intolerance  they  practised,  have  be- 
come permanent  and  sure.  Now,  indeed,  there  is 
neither  intolerance  nor  scarcit}^ ;  and  however  much 
our  predecessors  may  have  suffered  we  are  now  able 
to  supply  bread  and  beef  to  millions  of  people  less 
favorably  circumstanced.  Perhaps  nothing  more 
distinctly  or  emphatically  marks  the  character  and 
quality  of  a  people  than  their  "  ways  and  means " 
of  living.  It  has  been  said  that  Americans  are  dis- 
posed to  revel  in  big  dinners  ;  and,  in  fact,  under- 
take to  accomplish  every  thing  with  a  big  dinner,  or 
at  least  celebrate  the  accomplishment  of  it  in  that 
way.  One  writer  has  said,  if  we  welcome  a  guest 
it  is  done  with  a  dinner ;  if  we  inaugurate  a  stock 
company  or  start  a  charity,  it  is  pretty  sure  to  have 
its  relations  with  the  market  and  the  stomach.  This 
may  be  partly  so.  A  good  dinner,  social  and  liberal, 
is  the  reconciler,  the  inspiration,  the  motive  power 
of  good  works  generally ;  and  what  it  cannot  do,  or 
at  least  help  to  do,  is  pretty  sure  not  to  be  accom- 
plished. Of  course,  all  this  is  understood,  and  al- 
most sure  to  be  practised,  so  that,  when  any  thing 
comes  up,  instead  of  going  to  bed'  to  sleep  on  it,  we 
hurry  off  to  Parker's  or  Young's,  or  it  may  be,  if  the 
matter  is  very  staid  and  respectable,  to  the  old  Tre- 


140  CURIOSITIES   OF   HISTORY. 

mont,  and  eat  on  it.  The  custom  is  in  us  —  in  the 
blood ;  it  is  Saxon,  and  comes  naturally  enough 
from  the  mother  country.  In  England,  the  great 
diner-out,  Douglas  Jerrold,  who  knows  all  about  it, 
says,  "  If  an  earthquake  were  to  engulf  all  England 
to-morrow,  Englishmen  would  manage  to  meet,  and 
dine  somewhere  among  the  rubbish,"  as  if  the  occa- 
sion needed  to  be  celebrated  in  that  way. 

There  have  been  times,  now  fortunately  more  than 
a  hundred  years  ago,  when  our  market  could  not  be 
made  to  furnish  a  big  dinner  ;  when  there  was  no 
market ;  when  the  enemy  were  seizing  all  the  sheep 
and  cattle  ;  when  the  people  were  starving  on  salt 
provisions,  and,  in  one  instance  at  least,  a  party  of 
gentlemen  were  invited  to  dine  off  a  roasted  rat  in 
Boston  ;  and  again  when  a  special  request  was  made 
to  the  people,  in  consequence  of  the  necessities  of 
the  times,  "  not  to  have  more  than  two  dishes  of  meat 
on  their  tables."  But  not  long  after  this,  on  the  24th 
of  January,  1793,  there  was  a  grand  festival  in  honor 
of  French  Liberty  and  Equality,  when  an  ox  of  more 
than  a  thousand  weight  was  roasted  entire,  and  drawn 
on  a  car  by  fifteen  horses,  followed  by  other  carriages 
with  hogsheads  of  punch,  loaves  of  bread,  &c,  and  a 
large  procession  of  civil,  military,  municipal  officers, 
and  citizens,  through  the  principal  streets  to  State 
Street,  where  the  table  was  spread  and  the  dinner 
was  served  up  in  high  style.  At  the  present  time,  it 
would  be  an  easy  matter  to  roast  an  ox  every  clay, 
and  big  dinners  are  regarded  as  of  small  account 
on  the  score  of  rarity.  Some  philosopher  has  said, 
"  Eating  dinner  is  a  task  which,  above  all  others,  re- 


CONCLUSION.  141 

quires  the  conscience  pure,  the  mind  easy,  a  reason 
undisturbed,  the  senses  critical,  and  the  body  and 
spirit  perfectly  at  rest."  It  may  be  said  that  the 
philosophers  of  the  present  clay  do  not  deem  eating 
a  good  dinner  "  a  task ;  "  and  it  is  pretty  certain  the 
mass  of  the  people  do  not.  It  is  to  be  hoped  our 
market  will  never  again  be  unprepared  to  furnish  a 
big  dinner,  on  all  reasonable  occasions,  supply  a 
British  fleet,  or  meet  the  requirements  of  the  people 
at  home,  or  the  necessities  of  the  race  abroad. 


ifrOSTo^ 


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§■       HIV     -j. 


PUBLICATIONS   BY  THE   SAME  AUTHOR. 


New  History  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 

June   17,    1775.     Its   Purpose,    Conduct,   and   Result. 
By  William  W.  Wheildon.     8vo.     pp.  58.     Price,  50 

cents. 

"The  result  of  long  and  careful  study;  bird's-eye  view  of  the  phases  of  the 
battle."  "  It  is  a  gem,  and  ought  to  be  in  every  family."  "Fascinating  as  any 
tale  lately  told."  "  The  partisans  of  Prescott  and  Putnam  should  be  satisfied 
with  Mr.  Wheildon's  adjustment  of  their  claims."  "No  future  history  of  the 
event  will  be  complete  without  a  consideration  of  Mr.  Wheildon's  opinions." 
"An  important  addition  to  centennial  literature."  "  Js  challenging  a  good  deal 
of  attention  from  critics  and  the  reading  public,  as  it  sets  forth  this  very  impor- 
tant event  in  our  history  in  a  manner  which  none  of  the  several  Revolutionary 
historians  have  attempted."  "  That  famous  tight  is  made  to  assume  an  impor- 
tance the  late  Centennial  did  not  endow  it  with."  "  Deserves  a  place  in  libraries 
of  American  history."  "More  minute,  definite,  and  evidently  authentic,  than 
we  have  ever  seen  in  any  single  volume."  "  So  that  one  can  see  at  a  glance  just 
what  was  transpiring  at  a  given  hour."  "  There  were  two  independent  engage- 
ments." "  The  story  of  the  great  day  is  graphically  told,  upon  a  different  plan 
from  any  other  of  the  many  accounts." 


Memoir  of  $olom*m  Willard;  Architect  ana 
Superintendent  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument.  By 
William  W.  Wheildon.  8vo.  With  plates,  pp.  288. 
1855.     Price,  $2.00. 

"In  your  complete  vindication  of  the  true  merits  of  Solomon  Willard,  you 
have  given  to  mankind  the  best  history  of  the  most  sublime  pillar  of  testimony 
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Abraham  R.  Thompson. 

"Your  book,  in  ray  humble  opinion,  is  a  just  tribute  to  the  life  and  character 
of  the  architect:  in  so  doing  you  have  given  us  a  true  and  comprehensive  history 
of  the  monument  itself."  —  From  the  late.  Thomas  Hooper. 

"  I  duly  received  your  biography  of  Willard,  and  confess  to  my  gratified  sur- 
prise that  you  were  able  to  throw  so  much  interest  into  the  uneventful  life  of  a 
private  citizen.  There  is  more  sound  philosophy  in  such  a  memoir  than  in  the 
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cing it."  —  From  Ex-Gov.  Washburn. 

"  I  have  been  specially  gratified  for  the  judgment  shown  in  your  arrangement, 
and  by  the  taste  which  controlled  your  citations.  In  this  way  you  have,  without 
pedantry  or  ostentation,  thrown  around  the  great  monument  of  America  the 
proper  historic  wreath,  and  blended  with  it  memorial  chaplets  of  Webster  and 
Everett."  —  From  Gov.  A.  H.  Bullock. 

"  It  has  given  me  much  pleasure  and  instruction,  and  seems,  both  in  its  liter- 
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builders  and  the  building  of  the  great  monument.  It  will  be  read  with  greater 
interest  five  hundred  years  hence  than  now."  —  From  President  Walker  of 
Harvard  College. 

143 


Siege  and  Evacuation  of  Boston  and 
Chavlestoivn,  with  a  brief  account  of  Pre-Revolu- 
tionaiy  Buildings.  By  William  W.  Wheildon.  8vo. 
pp.  64.     50  cents. 

"  In  this  pamphlet  Mr.  Wheildon  has  gathered  together,  and  put  in  a  compact 
and  readable  form,  such  records  as  are  accessible  of  the  stirring  events  of  a  hun- 
dred years  ago.  Nothing  could  be  more  timely ;  and  whoever  wishes  to  acquaint 
himself  with  the  events  of  17th  of  March,  1776,  will  find  what  he  seeks  told  in 
a  simple  and  modest  style  between  the  covers  of  this  pamphlet."  —  Boston 
Journal. 

"  His  account  of  the  Siege  and  Evacuation  of  Boston  and  Charlestown,  is  by 
far  the  most  complete  and  the  best  that  has  been  prepared."  —  Index. 

"  It  is  the  most  concise  and  accurate  history  of  this  interesting  year  of  the 
Revolution  published."  —  Herald. 

"  To  those  who  have  read  the  history  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  by  the 
same  author,  William  W.  Wheildon,  it  is  unnecessary  to  praise  this  work  which 
covers  a  longer  period."  —  New  Haven  Palladium. 

"  It  is  an  interesting  story  as  told  by  Mr.  Wheildon,  who  gives  the  chief 
credit  for  the  conduct  of  the  military  operations,  not  to  Washington,  but  to  the 
Massachusetts  officers."  —  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

Sentry  or  Beacon  Hill:  Its  JBeacon  and 
Monument,  1635  to  1812.  By  William  W.  Wheil- 
don. 8vo.  pp.  120,  with  plans,  heliotype  plates,  and 
engravings.     75  cents  and  $1.25. 

EXTRACTS   FROM   SOME   PRIVATE   LETTERS. 

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over  pleased  me  more." 

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recollections." 

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information.    1  know  much  moi-e  about  ancient  Boston  than  I  did  before." 

Paul   Hevere's    Signal  Lanterns,  April  18, 

1775.      By   William   W.    Wheildon.      8vo.    pp.   50. 
Concord,  1878. 

"Mr.  Wheildon  considers,  one  by  one,  the  various  statements  that  have  been 
made  and  theories  broached  concerning  the  display  of  lights  from  the  Old  North 
Church,  on  the  evening  of  April  IS,  1775.  The  conclusion  to  which  he  arrives 
seems  to  be  supported  by  both  documentary  evidence  and  local  tradition."  — 
Transcript. 

"An  occasional  doubt  has  been  thrown  on  the  authenticity  of  the  story;  but 
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[Since  the  publication  of  this  pamphlet,  the  city  committee  have  purchased 
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144 


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